There are a few key figures at Heart of Midlothian out of contract at the end of the season. Amongst the club's support, there has been plenty of focus on Cammy Devlin's future as he nears the final six months of his deal. As well as Beni Baningime and Craig Halkett, two others whose deals expire at the end of the campaign.
There is a fourth who has established himself as a key cog in Derek McInnes' Scottish Premiership league-leading machine: Stuart Findlay.
It is easy to not only forget that he is out of contract at the end of the season, but that he doesn't belong to Hearts, owing to his loan deal from English Championship outfit Oxford United.
While nothing has been decided on the 30-year-old's future and he referenced the influence of Jamestown Analytics, Findlay made it clear that he would love to extend his stay at Tynecastle Park beyond the season.
“I think it would be an absolute no-brainer. I've loved every minute I've been here so far. It helps when the team are winning on the park," he said.
“It's an atmosphere I love being a part of. I obviously have a good relationship with the manager, but it's not something that I'm going to be knocking his door down.
“As I said, I'm going to just do my job and hopefully if something comes about, then something can get organised and happy days. But there's a long way to go between now and the end of the season and I'll leave that up to the club.
“The way the club's now ran obviously with Jameson and things, it's up to them if they decide they want to sign me next year. If they do, happy days, and we'll take it from there.
“Until then, all I can do is keep trying to put in performances on the park."
McInnes was keen to sign Findlay as soon as he stepped through the door in the summer, aware that the Hearts defence required more pace.
The defender demonstrated the attributes he brings to the backline in the 2-1 win over Celtic on Sunday when he thwarted the pacey threat of Daizen Maeda on two occasions.
He is one of just three players to have started every game for Hearts in the Scottish Premiership this season.
Devlin has been a central figure in the middle of the park, playing every single minute. Harry Milne has been an ever-present, whether it has been at left-back, wing-back or right midfield.
Findlay is most certainly one of those players McInnes puts a lot of trust in.
“The manager has based his career on players he can trust, and I struck a really good relationship with him at Kilmarnock, and I was really, really eager to continue that relationship with him. I think it worked vice versa, and I think so far, through all the labours, it's worked so far," he explained.
“So far, it looks as if he made the right choice bringing me here. Hopefully, I can keep repaying him, but for the faith he's put in me, I'll continue to put in performances that I have so far in the majority of the games.
“It's a massive thing to be able to know that you've got the manager in your corner and he backs you and he knows what you're capable of. It really takes the pressure off you.
“Coming into a new club, you want to try and impress. It's nice when you come in the door and you've got a guy that knows you as well as the manager does over the last two years.
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“But at the same time, you're still coming in, you're still playing with a very, very high calibre of team-mate. It's people you need to prove to them that you're worthy of being here and worthy of being in the starting XI.
"Obviously, it helps when you start the season with the wins that we had. I managed to get a couple of goals, which helps ease the tension as well. But there's always going to be pressure, there's always going to be that competition for places.
“It's all about trying to keep your standards as high as possible."
The only minutes Findlay has missed were when he was replaced toward the end of the defeat in Aberdeen.
It was caused by a flare-up of an ankle injury he suffered in 2024, which required an operation. He would take an injection to help him get ready for the Motherwell game earlier this month.
“I got a major operation on my ankle last year. I was told by the surgeon at the time that my ankle was never going to be 100 per cent back to normal all the time," he said.
“I had a little bit of a flare-up in the Aberdeen game, but it was something that there wasn't any real structural damage. It was more pain rather than weakness. I knew that with a little injection, just to maybe help me get on the way, that I'd be fit for the Motherwell game.
“I managed to get myself fit for that Motherwell game. Thankfully, I was, and we managed to get a good point at Fir Park.
“It wasn't a major thing. The injection did its job. Thankfully, I feel back to as good as I possibly could at this moment in time.
"As a football player, you can do all the tests you want with your physio. You can go out to the park and you can manipulate situations, but it's not until you're in a football environment, when you've got [Claudio] Braga trying to turn you in training and you're having to turn and keep up with him, that you get a true test of how the ankle is going to be.
“Thankfully, after the injection, I got that bit of freedom back that maybe I lost against Aberdeen with the way that I hurt it.
“It was only four or five days after I had the injection that I was back on my feet and I was able to play in the Motherwell game. There's no worries on that front.”
It allowed Findlay to continue alongside Halkett in what has been a balanced and formidable centre-back partnership. They have scored 11 goals between them in all competitions and kept six Premiership clean sheets as a pairing.
Findlay has admitted to being a big "admirer" of Halkett, owing to experience playing against him going back to when they were in the academies of Celtic and Rangers, respectively.
“He’s been very unlucky, probably, that injuries have probably curtailed how far he could have gone internationally," he noted.
“He's obviously come back this season, with a clean bill of health, and he's shown how good he is.
“I think the two of us together have had a really good partnership. I think we've both thrived off playing with each other, so it's worked well so far."
With Scotland now qualified for the World Cup next summer, it means Scottish players performing well will be asked about their international ambitions.
Findlay has one cap for the national team, coming back in 2019.
“It's a question you hear crop up now and again, but it's maybe a bit of a boring answer. What the manager at Scotland decides to do, there's nothing that we can do to change that," he said.
“All we can do is play how we can for Hearts. If we're successful at Hearts and something comes off the back of it, then it's an absolute bonus.
“Every player’s dream is to play at the World Cup, of course it is, it'd be the greatest honour you could have. But there's seven very important months for Hearts in between now and then. At this moment in time, my focus is making sure that I have as good a season as I can with Hearts.
“The manager's obviously given me the chance to come and perform here. The most important thing is to make sure I impress him and make sure I don't let the manager down.
“As I say, anything that comes off the back of that is a bonus. But at this moment in time, that's the way I need to look at it, and that's performing well for Hearts."
