Cruel fate for dependable Neilson after Hearts defender takes his international debut in his stride

EVENTS have a strange way of happening to Robbie Neilson. He's sitting there, as laid back as you like, when suddenly he finds he has another three rivals for his place in the Hearts team.

Or, he's just plugging away at putting in a good shift at right-back when he learns he has been drafted into the Scotland squad. Or, as became the case last night when he made his national debut against Ukraine, he begins on the fringes of the contest, only to find himself thrust into the thick of the fray. With Vladimir Romanov, the Hearts owner, in attendance in the Olympic Stadium, time was running out with the home side a goal to the good when a cross came into the Scotland box. Andriy Shevchenko collapsed to the floor, and the referee ruled that Neilson had ushered him on his way. When the Chelsea player got to his feet and scored from the spot, the match was over.

Just minutes before, the Hearts man had made the best chance of the match for his side, curling in a cross from the right to present Kenny Miller with a free header. It was the chance Scotland had been waiting for, but the Celtic striker failed to make the right contact.

Neilson has been waiting long enough for his own chance. When Christian Dailly is available again after being suspended, the Tynecastle player may have to go back to waiting patiently. But last night, surely, he did enough to prove he is in not outclassed at this level - just as he has raised his game domestically over the past couple of years to ensure he is not outclassed by the quality additions to the Hearts squad.

Players of a more fretful disposition than Neilson may well have been made insecure by some of the recruitment decisions at Hearts over the past couple of years.

His answer to any implicit questioning of his ability has been to become more reliable by the match. He suffers from no egomaniacal delusions about being an exceptional player, knowing that - like the Scotland side in general when faced with more highly rated opponents - he owes much of his success to hard work and diligence.

And that work has increasingly been appreciated further afield than Tynecastle, which is why Neilson first found himself on the fringes of the Scotland squad, and eventually named in the team. You could almost call it rising without trace: whatever obstacles are put in his way, he sails serenely on.

If Neilson was going to be unnerved by the occasion, he would perhaps have been afflicted very early on in the match, when he failed to prevent a pass from Darren Fletcher skidding off the wet turf on its way out of play. The Hearts player was not to blame for what was in any case a minor misjudgement, but such small things going wrong can sometimes affect your ability to get into the tempo of the contest. Instead of being thus affected, though, he showed with his first real touch that he was not overawed, sending a searching cross to the back post.

He then won a 50-50 header in midfield, and went on to take several of his trademark long throw-ins. None was anywhere near close enough to the home goal to be able to cause panic in the defence, but they were at least showing he was settling into the game.

In the second half, as Ukraine cranked up the pressure in search of a goal, Neilson, in common with his team-mates, was far more on the back foot. With every man required to perform auxiliary defensive duties in addition to his primary role, he was forced into a more central position at times.

On one such occasion he just failed to get in a last-ditch tackle on Shevchenko, but was relieved to see the Ukrainian's stabbed shot come back off the post. He then put in a good tackle on Maksim Kalinichenko before the opening goal changed the complexion of the match.

As Scotland ventured upfield in greater numbers in search of an improbable equaliser, so they became more susceptible to sudden counter-attacks. As one such threatened to develop after Ukraine had cleared a corner, Neilson committed a professional foul to stop his man.

A yellow card from the referee followed, then later the penalty award was another punishment of sorts. Neilson is used to such minor setbacks by now, though; indeed, each one just seems to make him stronger.

Taken from the Scotsman