CRAIG HALKETT has backed John Souttar to end his Hearts career on a high at Hampden and ignore any off-field noise over his impending move to Rangers this summer.
Souttar stepped off the bench for the final minutes of a 3-1 defeat on Saturday as his future employers brought the curtain down on the Premiership campaign with an impressive showing at Tynecastle.
Now the defender will aim to get one over on the side he will soon line up for as the Jambos aim to cap an encouraging campaign in style and bid for Scottish Cup glory on Saturday.
Souttar looked to have played his last game for Robbie Neilson's side after undergoing ankle surgery in March but he is now in contention to start against Rangers.
And centre-back partner Halkett has no doubts about the 25-year-old's commitment to the Gorgie cause ahead of their chance to become Hearts legends with a cup triumph.
Halkett said: "John’s a top professional. He’s a Hearts player at the moment.
"He’s not going to be a Rangers player until the start of next season. He is fully concentrating on winning the cup with Hearts.
"It’s a chance to win a major trophy in Scotland. He will be doing everything he can for Hearts and all the boys to win the cup.
"You look at the previous teams that have won cups with Hearts, they still get spoken about to this day. It’s a chance to write yourself into the history of this club.
"It would be a massive achievement for all the boys in there, not just John. Everyone is going to be doing everything they can to make sure we come out victorious on the day.
"It was exactly how I expected him to handle it. John’s a top, top professional. I think he knew when he signed that there was going to be a wee bit of noise but he has always just put his head down, worked hard and not let it affect him.
"You saw that in the few weeks after the window closed. He put in some of the best performances he has put in all season. It is a testament to him and how good a professional he is."
Souttar and Halkett are likely to get a run-out in a bounce game this week as they step up their preparations for the Hampden clash after lengthy spells out of action.
Rangers will warm-up for the final with a Europa League shot at glory against Eintracht Frankfurt but Halkett reckons evens in Seville won't impact on how the afternoon unfolds on Saturday.
"I don’t think so," Halkett said. "When Rangers played 120 minutes in Europe, they had the Old Firm game the week after and turned in a performance.
"So we’re not going to worry too much about how long they play or what the result is. It’s all just going to be concentrating on what we’re going to do."
