"Calum needs to score a greater percentage of his chances," said Malpas. "He needs to learn to be patient and keep his belief up because of the lack of games he gets at Tynecastle.

"That's not me having a dig at Hearts because they pick the team as they see fit, but he has to learn how to handle it better. He does get depressed, he does get down on himself and he's hard on himself because he wants to do well and play in the team every week. You can't knock the lad for that.

"I think emotionally he has to be more on an even keel, rather than up and down."

Elliot admits needing to improve his goalscoring record after netting only twice this season and he hopes to begin his quest on international duty against Lithuania.

He said: "I've had a bad year but I still believe I can score goals for club and country," he said. "If I play tonight I want get amongst the goals and that can help me."