Zander Clark ready for Scotland No.1 role as the Hearts goalkeeper aims to seize his moment

National coach Steve Clarke has a decision to make for this month's double header

Hearts goalkeeper Zander Clark is ready to push for the Scotland No.1 position this month in the absence of Angus Gunn and Craig Gordon. The national team finish their European Championship qualifying campaign with games against Georgia in Tbilisi and Norway at Hampden, but Gunn is out injured and Gordon has not played competitively for 10 months after breaking his leg.

That leaves Clark to compete with Motherwell's Liam Kelly for the goalkeeping slot. Both made their senior Scotland debuts in last month's friendly against France, but since then Gunn has suffered a thigh injury. His club, Norwich City, ruled him out until after the forthcoming international break and Scotland manager Steve Clarke must now choose a deputy keeper.

Hearts coaching staff are confident Clark is ready for the responsibility after 10 months in goal at Tynecastle. He stepped into the team when Gordon suffered a double leg-break last December, a promotion which also helped him cement a place in the national squad. He has managed six clean sheets in 17 appearances at club level so far this season, the latest coming in Wednesday night's 1-0 win against Livingston.

"Zander is a great leader and he has worked hard to get to this position," said Steven Naismith, the Hearts head coach who was part of the Scotland management team prior to this season. "He has had to wait a long time. I played with a few players who went through a period like that when they weren't getting enough minutes at international level. They decided they had had enough when they hit 30.

"Zander has continued to go along and he has waited. Now he has a chance to go to the Euros and a chance to be playing competitive games for Scotland. I really think he would deal with it fine. He is an experienced player who has won trophies. He has had to do the hard yards with the national team and then he gets the rewards for that last month. That game against France helps massively.

"What also helps is that fact Scotland have qualified for the Euros. Knowing the manager, he will be big on getting wins against Georgia and Norway. There is a demand there and Zander will be comfortable with that. There is also the other side where, if the worst was to happen, it's not going to cost us in terms of qualification. That is a safety net."

Naismith and the Hearts coaching staff are aware that the chance to start for Scotland can also help Clark at club level between now and then. "It can, definitely. I think he has been quite a consistent performer for us," said Naismith. "He has made some big saves. Competition for places is there with Mikey [McGovern], who is another experienced goalie. They all work well together.

"Zander will have his own goals in terms of what he wants to do. I imagine he will have an eye on this international break coming up as an opportunity to play competitive minutes. Liam Kelly will be thinking the same. All Zander can do is perform well here. The Scotland manager might watch one of our games and think: 'He's the one for me.' That's the way Zander needs to look at it."