Career
Paterson began his career as a youth player at Tynecastle before joining Heart of Midlothian in 2010. He made his European debut on 23 August, in a 1–0 defeat to Liverpool at Tynecastle. On 31 August, Paterson signed a new contract extending his stay with the club until 2015.
On 22 January 2013, Paterson suffered ligament damage to his foot in training that ruled him out of the Scottish League Cup Semi-final against Inverness that weekend.
The injury required surgery and ultimately ruled him out for the remainder of the season. During his debut season Paterson made twenty seven appearances, scoring four times In doing so he played as a Right back, Midfielder and as a Striker, with the latter being the position he played in before joining Hearts.
On 11 August 2013, Paterson scored his first goal of the 2013-2014 campaign, when he headed home the only goal in the Edinburgh derby against Hibernian at Tynecastle. Paterson earned caps at both U18 and U19 level in 2012 before establishing himself as a regular in Scotland U21 squads.
On 10 November 2014, manager Gordon Strachan called Paterson into the senior Scottish squad for the first time after Philosophy Bardsley pulled out of the squad injured, ahead of a European qualifier against the Republic of Ireland and a friendly against England.
