James Wilson should relish every second of his time with Scotland.
Take it all on board and not be daunted is my advice. I know what it’s like when you first go in there and it can be frightening… seriously.
It’s good for Steve Clarke just to take him and get him involved in terms of the bigger picture, have him around the squads so he’s getting that experience of training with the international boys – because you need it.
Craig Levein gave me a call-up for a senior squad in 2011 and it was a wonderful moment.
I was buzzing, as you would expect. But my God, what an eye-opener.
The time I went away, I knew Kenny Miller, for example, was a really good player. You only had to look at the teams he was playing for and the level he was operating at in his club career,
But on the first day we trained, we did a box thing – a three-minute drill.
I was against Kenny and I swear I didn’t touch the ball once. Now 30 seconds without touching the ball in one of those drills is a long time, never mind three minutes. It got embarrassing.
I remember going back to the hotel and thinking, ‘Holy f***. I’m absolutely miles off it’. Wow, there are levels.
I’m the same as anyone else. You watch guys on TV and think, ‘Aye, he’s a good player and everything’. But the levels were astounding.
Darren Fletcher was there, Barry Robson, Gary Caldwell was the same in the manner that he passed the ball in to you. The pressure put on to you… it was a huge realisation.
These boys were playing for massive clubs. Phil Bardsley was at Sunderland, Kenny at Rangers.
I was always confident in my own ability but I then realised these boys are so good and we are only a smaller nation – can you imagine going into an England, a France or a Spain camp?
So it was a big realisation for me but one I thoroughly enjoyed. It made me see just how far I was from the very top. I was at Hearts at the time and trained hard.
But there were days when you could go through the motions and just about get by. That full week I was with Scotland, there was never a slip.
I tried to take it back into my club training as I was desperate to get back involved. I realised I would need to train and play to the very highest of my abilities to even get another call-up.
It was an incredible experience but one that made me realise just how far off the mark I was at times.
Working alongside these top boys can only be good for Wilson’s growth at 18 years of age.
You look at the way he has come into the first team at Hearts, it doesn’t appear to me he has been daunted once.
He’s taken it in his stride. He seems like a level-headed guy with good people and a good manager around him.
After all, he’s a kid with the world at his feet and, as you get older, you can over-analyse things.
From that point of view, it is great Steve has taken him into the fold so he can get familiar with the training, the players, the management. That way, if he gets back into the squads, there is a familiarity to it all, which is a big benefit.
I can understand Lawrence Shankland not getting in. He had a difficult time prior to Christmas and the competition is high. Maybe he’ll see it as a bit of a reset for him too.
It gives him a bit of time to get himself together and finish the season as strongly as possible. Hearts are going to need both Shankland and Wilson – as well as everyone else – at it because they have to make sure they get that top-six place with three games to go before the split.
The squad cannot take their eye off the ball for one minute and it echoes that sentiment with Scotland, if you like. Every moment, be on it.
I went into that Scotland squad and realised the levels meant I could not slip up. Hearts are at that point in the season as well – they cannot make a mistake.
They need to be on it every week to make sure they get the points and reach the minimum target, which is the top half.
Wilson will come back from his Scotland experience with more to offer and an even sharper outlook.
He needs to take the positive aspects on board, devour every bit of information and embrace every second.
Not only will that benefit him, it will boost Hearts until the end of term.