Hearts have appointed Austin MacPhee as assistant to new head coach Ian Cathro.

The Northern Ireland number two was unveiled to the media at Tynecastle alongside Cathro and chairwomen Ann Budge on Tuesday morning.

MacPhee, who works alongside Michael O'Neill at international level, was interviewed with the performance director role at the Scottish FA.

However the 37-year-old feels moving to Gorgie will prove to be the best career move for him, saying: "It's nothing to do with (choosing between) the SFA and Hearts. It's two different career paths.

"One takes you down the technical director route - the other takes you right into the game and coaching, where I currently am with Northern Ireland.

"So whether it was the Icelandic FA, the Scottish FA, the Spanish FA or Hearts, Chelsea or whoever else it might be, it was a choice of career path and not of one (employer) over the other.

"The dialogue with both parties was very open for the past week or so. I believe at this football club we can move out of our comfort zone.

"Many things can do that - ideas, madness, anything that you wish - and I believe the decision to come here will be the right one for my career over time.

"I can only thank the SFA for their patience in me, their exchanging ideas with me. Whoever takes over the performance director role has a very exciting job and things like Project Brave will help take Scottish football forward.

"If I had two of me I'd do both jobs but in life you have to make choices and I'm absolutely convinced I've made the right choice."

The appointment sees him move back into coaching in Scotland after previous spells at Cowdenbeath and St Mirren.

Watch Paul Barnes and Jamie Borthwick break down the key points of MacPhee and Cathro's first media conference.