WORKS FOR OZ WORKS FOR US

Playing against the best can only bring benefit to Hearts

THERE was absolutely no shame in Nathaniel Atkinson getting a bit of a runaround from Kylian Mbappe in the World Cup the other night.

After all, if one of the world's top three players is performing at the top of his game, there's no right-back on the planet who can live with him.

And the young Hearts defender stuck to his task brilliantly for Australia.

I really liked Atkinson's honesty when he spoke about the experience later.

No hiding, no whining, just an acceptance that when a guy like Mbappe is on the song, there's not much a mere mortal can do other than dance to his tune.

I know, I've been there on more than a couple of occasions.

While at the time it seemed like hell, chasing shadows that were there one second and gone the next, you look back on it with a sense of satisfaction you have reached a level where you are on the same pitch as some of the very best the game has to offer.

My first taste of it came as a raw teenager, thrown into a Chelsea reserve game against a West Ham side who had Joe Cole and Michael Carrick up against me in the middle of the park.