In St Gallen, it was the Nathaniel Atkinson song. In Florence, it was 'Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la'. The sound of Bruges may well be an ode to James Penrice.

"We signed a left-back, he runs so fast, he's Jamesy Penrice, he's f***ing class!" will likely echo out from the Heart of Midlothian contingent. In pubs and squares as tourists and locals go about thier business. And from the well-oiled 3,124 away support at the Jan Breydel Stadium on Thursday evening.

It is the result of Penrice making everyone forget about Alex Cochrane. That is not a slight on Cochrane. It is simply huge praise for the summer arrival. It appeared that the club, aware of the importance of Cochrane, wanted two players to replaced him. Andres Salazar arrived, as well as Penrice.

Yet, it is not the Colombian international who has made the position his own. It's the man from West Lothian who arrived from relegated Livingston. Not only that, he has been the club's best summer signing. Ahead of Blair Spittal and Malachi Boateng.

The transition has looked seamless, all the more impressive considering Penrice didn't have a proper pre-season due to an injury that cost him a few months of last campaign.

"If it looks like that, that's probably good," he said of how he's fitted into the team. "It's been difficult, I'm not going to lie. It was a different way of playing. I've had to get used to that. I didn't really have a pre-season as well.

"It was difficult from January on and then when I knew this was going to happen, it's just been excitement. I just want to get on the pitch and try and perform for a win.

"I said it before I signed. I said I can come in and make an impact. I think I've done that. I've never had a pre-season. Now I feel I'm getting up to my best game. I can keep showing people what I can do."

Penrice has, on a weekly basis, been showing what he can do. Proving he belongs at this level. And that includes going from a relegation battle to European football.

"Playing where I was last year and then coming here and playing on big European nights, it's been good," he said.

"I've said it before, I think the big games every couple of days and then playing in Europe, it was a massive attraction and I'm just glad I'm doing it.

"I think even the [Conference League] song getting played before the match, it was a bit of a weird one the first time I heard it. It's been a crazy year, but for me and my family it's been brilliant and I look forward to these games."

And what about his own song, does he know about it?

"I got sent the song a couple of times yesterday," he said. "It's always good. It's probably the first one I've got.

"It's more for my family. It's stuff for them that they can look and be proud of."

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When Penrice did an interview with Hearts TV earlier this month he mentioned an ambition to play for Scotland. It was something Neil Critchley also discussed recently. 

The player has the belief that if he continues to play well for Hearts it will give him a great chance, despite the vast competition for the position. Namely, Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney.

He can also use former Livingston team-mate Nicky Devlin as inspiration.

"It's a no-bad fight, isn't it," Penrice said.

"I had a conversation with the gaffer about my ambitions. For my career, I mentioned that Scotland was one of them. I don't see why not. I'm at a huge club.

"Even in the league, playing against big teams, you need to go and perform. That's what I want to do. I want to perform every game and see where it takes me.

"It's hard work and that's what gets you where you need to go."

In the here and now, it's delivering for the big Hearts support in Bruges.

"They're going to be here and they're going to be loud," he said. "Even in the airport today, the airport was full of Hearts fans. That's what we want. We want the backing and we need to go and show that we can go and get a result.

"Every game should be the same. You should want to win. Whether there's 15,000 Hearts fans or 5,000 Hearts fans, you should want to go and win games. There's a belief from us and a demand from ourselves that we can go and do that."