And, while the call has come earlier than Craig Levein thought it would, his club boss has long suspected the man he snapped up under freedom of contract from city rivals Dundee in the summer was destined for international recognition.

“I am delighted for him and, while making the squad is one thing and staying in it another, it’s great news for him,” said Craig.

“I’ve always believed he had the potential to get a cap, but I am a bit surprised it has come so soon.

“Maybe I shouldn’t be, because the boy is a glutton for work and wants to learn.

“When you speak to him about football, he just soaks information up and takes it out on the park. He has really come on here and he’s produced a very good level of consistency.”

Robertson has played every minute of every competitive game so far for his new club and, when the gaffer looks at the competition for places, that’s another reason he maybe should not have been surprised.

“Scott has been keeping Prince Buaben out of the team and he was one of our best players last season. You are also taking about a player who has featured in Ghana’s squad, so it shows he’s been doing well.”

Turning to the end of his side’s 10-game unbeaten run with a 2-0 defeat at Kilmarnock on Saturday, Craig refused to be too hard on his players.

Having played so well for the past couple of months, he is likely to adopt a two-strikes-and-you’re-out policy when it comes to picking a team for Hamilton’s visit on Saturday.

“It’s never OK to lose, but I think I have to recognise the run the players have had and the effort,” he added.

“That means I am not going to do too much in terms of changing things, but there are people waiting to come in, so if I feel people have not been performing for a couple of games then things might be different.”

They’ll earn it, though, and after completing a double session today, they’ll have the same again tomorrow and Wednesday before being given time off.

And those who did not start Saturday’s win over Queen of the South will also be on duty tomorrow night for a closed- door game against Forfar.

That one will see Paul McHale and David Cowan return from injury, while Garry MacKenzie and Jim Lauchlan will get more game time as they build match fitness.

There is likely to be another closed-door game next week and, by the time First Division leaders St Johnstone visit Dens on Saturday week, Jocky is hopeful of having a reasonable-sized squad to pick from.

“People are coming back and that’s good news,” said the boss.

“I’ll have to see how they do in the games, but we should have more options.”

Given the current form, though, nobody should expect to walk back into the team and Jocky admitted to being impressed by his team on Saturday.

“From my first day, the players showed me they worked hard and now I see they can take what they’ve done in training onto the park and that’s very encouraging,” he added.

“On Saturday, we played some good football at times and, at others, only the final pass let us down.

“Our second goal came from exactly the things we had been working on during the week.”