ANDREW Driver will be unfortunate if he is confronted with a tougher decision than the one facing him at present in the years remaining of his football career.
The Hearts winger has admitted the stress has put him off his game although it is not the whole story behind his downturn in form. He is confident he will recapture his at-times dazzling play of last season, and aims to return to form which warrants
talk of a tug-of-war between Scotland and England for his services. As it stands, there has been no contact from the English Football Association since last month's confirmation of the rule change which permits those educated for more than five years in a country to represent that nation at football.
George Burley, meanwhile, will not include Driver in his squad to face Wales a week on Saturday. Indeed, the Scotland manager has intimated that Driver would need to first convince him that he is entirely committed to Scotland before even being considered. It leaves Driver with much to think about, and has further hindered his bid to return to top form following injury.
"I have not heard anything from the English FA," revealed Driver, who played a single match for the England Under-21 team during this summer's European Championship. "I have to be truthful to myself. As far as England is concerned I would have to improve in the next few years. I would have to improve to play for Scotland at the moment. But nothing has been said about anything. It is a decision which I have to make. I know the level I have to get to, and it's up to me if I think I can get there."
It is possible to sense that Driver now feels Scottish, but having tasted life in an England jersey it is natural that he is currently torn. He did, though, emphasise that whatever decision he makes about his international future, there will be no looking back.
"I feel if I come out and say I want to get in the squad, it makes me look arrogant," he said. "I don't want to rush into it and come across the wrong way. I want to think long and hard about it and if I do make the decision to play for Scotland, I will do it 100 per cent. I won't go into it halfway. I'm not delaying the decision because I'm not sure about it; it's just the fact that I want to feel good about myself playing football again and then I'll settle down."
If he opts for Scotland, then his short England career would become a closed chapter in his life – as well as a likely pub quiz question. "I wouldn't have any feelings about turning my back," he said. "Obviously, it was a great honour for me to play for England. But if I turn my back on them then that is it; that's out the window."
He has promised to have reached a decision "long before" Christmas. His agent, Scott Fisher, has already had what Driver described as "a few conversations" with Burley, although he did not reveal who had initiated this contact. The winger has also spoken with Campbell Ogilvie, who as well as being Hearts managing director is a joint vice-president of the Scottish Football Association.
"That helped clear up a few things," Driver said. "I think eventually, as they say in the films, my people will have to speak to their people. I would feel a lot better in the situation if Hearts were playing well and I was playing well. It would be a lot easier to know what my mind-set," the Hearts winger added.
"It is kind of embarrassing getting touted around like this when you don't feel yourself that you are playing to your potential. I really have to sit down and talk about it. But I don't feel I am in a position to do that the way I am playing at the moment. The whole point about playing for your country is you want to do it. I don't want to drag it out because it suggests you are not 100 per cent about it."
Driver is not, however, at the stage where he is enduring long, dark nights of the soul.
"I have never struggled to sleep," he said. "The only time I have is when I broke my mum's vase when I was younger and glued it back together again."
• Andrew Driver was speaking at an event to publicise the Tynecastle club's Hall of Fame Awards on Friday, 13 November. The ceremony, held at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange, sees nominations for Bobby Walker, Alfie Conn and Donald Ford, among others. Tickets are available from Rory Donaldson at Hearts Events on 0131 200 7258.
