Aaron McEneff wants Hearts' targets seized 'by the scruff of the neck'

“It’s time for us to step up as a team, grab things by the scruff of the neck and go get what we want to achieve.”

Aaron McEneff’s words are delivered unassumingly, evidence of the quiet confidence around Riccarton right now as Hearts enter the business end of the season. It is a period which promises so much.

Third place in the Premiership would be a remarkable achievement for a club promoted from the Championship just 12 months ago. Factor in guaranteed European football alongside it, plus the possibility of Scottish Cup success, and McEneff is doing well to remain so understated.

The Irish midfielder is an expert at avoiding overexuberance. He waited all season for a chance to shine and only returned to Hearts’ starting line-up against Livingston prior to the international break. He more than anyone knows the intense focus required over the coming weeks.

Aaron McEneff has waited patiently for a chance at Hearts this season.

“We know what is sitting in front of us. We know what targets we set at the start of the season and what we want to achieve,” he said. “The group has done brilliantly all season. Now it’s the business end of the season and it’s time for us to step up as a team, grab things by the scruff of the neck and go get what we want to achieve.

“I think it is important in football that you have a good squad of players. We’ve got a great squad of players here. If one player comes out then there’s someone sitting there ready to come in and do a job. In my case, I’ve had to come off the bench or not in the squad at all. So I’m fit and ready to go and when I’m called upon, I’ll do my best for the team.”

A visit to Ross County this afternoon might be viewed as the calm before the storm by outsiders, but internally Hearts place huge emphasis on the assignment in Dingwall. Maintaining momentum for back-to-back Edinburgh derbies against Hibs in the league and Scottish Cup is vital.

“We just have to take it game by game, like we’ve done all season. When we put one game to bed it’s onto the next one and it’s important not to look too far ahead,” said McEneff. “I think the best thing you can do is prepare all week for the game on Saturday and that’s what our focus is on.”

Injuries to first-choice midfielders Beni Baningime and Cammy Devlin create voids that McEneff and others are eager to fill. Expressing sympathy in particular for Baningime, out for up to nine months with a damaged cruciate ligament, McEneff explained the mindset within the Hearts squad.

“I’m gutted for Beni. I’m quite close with him,” he said. “When it happened, I didn’t realise how severe it was going to be. I text him a few days later, after he had found out, so I’m gutted as are the rest of the boys, because he’s a great guy.

“With Beni’s mentality, he’s still been in about the place smiling. He’s got a great mentality so I’ve got no doubt he’ll come back really strong whenever that is. Obviously, he’s going to be gutted when you get a really bad injury like that, especially at this business end of the season.

“It's important you then have other people ready to come in and play. When people have been out this season, other players have come in and done well. It's part of the game. It's part of the manager and Joe Savage's job to recruit a squad – not just recruit 11 players. In my opinion, they've done that really well.

“We've got a great squad and, coming into the business end of the season, it's time to use it.

“If you've been left out or you aren't playing, then if you don't put in the hard yards in training and you sack it off, there are no winners. You won't get anything out of it, the team won't get anything out of it, the club won't get anything out of it. It's important to keep your headspace right and work hard in those situations.

“Then you need to be ready for when you do get to play because you will get your chance. We've had a few injuries but, no problem, others guys are waiting to come in and play.”

Hearts’ progress in the 14 months since McEneff arrived from Shamrock Rovers has been startling. From Championship leaders to the third-best team in Scotland is a considerable rise, but the Irishman isn’t overly surprised.

“I fully expected, when we got promoted last year, that we would compete in the top flight. I didn't sign for the club to come over and be in and around the bottom, or maybe hoping to stay up. I knew the magnitude of the club and the ambition of where they wanted to get back to. I'm not too surprised to be honest. We've done well this year.”

Asked if he was surprised it happened so quickly, he replied: “Possibly you could maybe say that. When teams get promoted, it takes them maybe a year to get going again in the top flight. We had good players in the Championship and that's shown this year.

“We have players who can play at a really good level. We've shown that in terms of the results and some of the football we have played. It's been excellent.

“We are along the lines of the pre-season targets we set. It's good having targets and getting to the point we are at now, but there's still a job to be done. We still need to remain focused until the last game of the season. Then we can sit down and reflect and see if we've hit those targets or not.”

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