Is Hearts’ McPake poised to gatecrash Pocognoli’s Scotland squad?

The talk of the toon are the boys in maroon, but the chat in all corners of the country is about McPake. He really is the man of the moment.

In eight games, he has registered two goals and four assists for an increasingly easy-on-the-eye Hearts side, who are emerging as contenders for the campaign’s great entertainers.

In the first 30 minutes at the home of their city rivals, they were magnificent. McPake – along with fellow Scotland hopeful Calvin Miller – was unplayable, hugging the touchline and leaving home full-back Felix Passlack for dust.

He destroyed the former Borussia Dortmund defender before teeing up James Wilson’s opener, with former Hearts striker Ryan Stevenson explaining that was the perfect example of how much of a handful he is.

“It is so hard for defenders when wingers play on the opposite side,” Stevenson said on Sportsound. “They always want to come on the inside, but he is happy to go on the outside and feint and go on his left side.

“One of his biggest attributes is you don’t know which way he will go.”

That was evident again when McPake took a stroll for his superb solo goal, one he was desperate for in his first derby.

“I thought we started the game really, really well,” McPake told BBC Sport Scotland. “Obviously, I got the assist in the first half, but I really, really wanted the goal.”