A change to FIFA's eligibility criteria means Jambos winger Driver, 21, now qualifies for selection - despite having no blood ties to the country.

National team boss Burley said this week he would have no qualms picking Oldham-born Driver - who moved to North Berwick at the age of 11 - but warned the player must first pledge his allegiance to Scotland.

That is thought to be because he played for England Under-21s this summer, and there are question marks over whether he would rather represent the country of his birth.

But club boss Laszlo is adamant Driver - who represented Scotland at schoolboy level - is right to hedge his bets, pointing out other players involved in an international tug-of-war have done exactly the same.

"I think if you don't invite anybody, you can't wait for somebody to tell you, 'I am here'," said Laszlo.

"I'll give you an example: if I have a good result with Hearts or do a good job with Hearts, maybe two or three clubs will look and say 'Hey, this is a good guy; he's done a good job' - and they'll ask for my service.

"But if I work here and nobody asks and I write a letter to a club 'Hey, take me - I am good', he'll smile about me."

Laszlo illustrated his words by miming as if to screw up a job application and throw it in a bin.

He added: "If he has an invitation from Scotland, 100% Andrew Driver will think about this.

"If he has an invitation from England, he'll think about this.

"But at the moment, he doesn't have any invitation; this is only fiction and no more.

"The rule gives the possibility for Andrew Driver now to choose one country."

Laszlo cited the example of Werder Bremen midfielder Mesut Ozil.

"He was invited by the Turkey national team - he refused. Now he chose the German national team," he explained.

Driver's Tynecastle team-mate Eggert Jonsson believes the winger may be torn between a guaranteed Scotland career and the possibility of one day playing for England.

"He's a good player and in two years - three years - he might be playing for England," said the Iceland international.

"On the other hand, maybe that's never going to happen - and the way he looks at it he maybe thinks he's Scottish.

"He's lived here for so long; he's been here the whole of his football career."

Jonsson can understand mixed feelings in such cases.

"England are one of the biggest national teams in the world and obviously have a lot of great players," he notes.

"Scotland have maybe not been doing so well recently, and it may be easier for him to get in there."

Jonsson acknowledges the England-Scotland rivalry complicates Driver's decision, adding: "He's looked well in training, but you never know what's going on in his mind.

"We speak about it, but he's not really told me what he's thinking."

Jonsson moved to Scotland as a teenager and could have represented them under the new rule had he arrived a few years earlier.

But asked if he would have chosen Scotland or Iceland in similar circumstances, he replied without missing a beat: "I would have played for Iceland."