Beni Baningime reveals his Hearts injury progress alongside Liam Boyce and Peter Haring

Injured Hearts players Beni Baningime, Liam Boyce and Peter Haring today delivered a fitness update and an insight into their progress at the club’s Riccarton training base.

Haring, the Austrian midfielder, returned to full training in the middle of last week after a concussion injury sidelined him last October. Fellow midfielder Baningime and striker Boyce are both still recovering from anterior cruciate ligament tears. They hope to return to action before the season ends.

In a video posted on Hearts’ social media channels, the players spoke openly about their respective rehabilitations. “I’m fully back with the team now,” said Haring. “That’s actually my first week involved in everything. Three or four weeks before, I was doing pitch work with the physios and was gradually getting better. I’m happy where I am at the moment.

“It took a while longer than we initially thought. First week back after the knock, I thought: ‘It’s actually not a big deal and I’ll be back in no time.’ Symptoms still kept appearing and did not go away for a while so it was unfortunate, but I’m even more happy to be back now.

“When you’re injured, especially long-term, you try not to separate yourself from the team. Everyone is having their days where it's a little bit harder to get through your programmes. You try to help each other out, you always try to be there for each other. In saying that, Beni has been a nightmare some days, but other than that we’ve been getting on well,” he smiled.

Baningime and Boyce have been working together and supporting each other in recent months after sustaining similar injuries. Baningime explained the relief after resuming running outdoors. “It feels great. Obviously, this is an important phase because you need to do everything right,” he said. “Your body is starting to adjust to running and all those sorts of good things, but it feels like the hard times are kind of gone. You’re coming outside, the boys have been great. It’s good to see the light again.

“There were times when my knee just wasn’t functioning and because he [Boyce] was there, it was so much easier. He would be like: ‘It’s not the end of the world.’ Shortly after that, it just switched up. I think the biggest thing out of this is that we’ve got really close.

“Before this injury, I wasn't really one to get injured and hopefully that will continue after this. I try to stay away from physios as much as possible. Seeing what they are doing and seeing just the different ways they attack different problems, they know exactly what they are doing. It’s been great to see for the first time and hopefully I never see them again.”

Hearts midfielder Beni Baningime hopes to play again before the season ends.

Boyce ruptured his ACL in 2017 whilst at Burton Albion and knew what to expect after suffering the same injury again last August. “The first time I did it, I was young and you just want to get back playing football. Now I’m a bit older, you have the experience of going through it,” he said. “I obviously don't want anyone else injured but having Beni or someone that’s always in the gym, always there with you, even if the boys are off [is great].

“When everyone hears ‘ACL’, they think you’re going to be back in nine months but every single one is different. Even us two sitting here, we’ve got two different operations on the same thing. At the start it’s a bit mundane and the exercises you’re doing, you didn’t even think you’d ever have to do them. Like straight leg-raises and stuff, but you need to get control of your muscles to be able to use one muscle and switch off everything else.

“Because I had done it before I had experience. I think that’s probably the hardest thing, to know how to control everything in your body. That’s the first phase. The second one is just to get as big and strong as you can. When you get that, it’s just about learning how to run again, jump, land. It’s crazy to think you have to learn how to walk properly again at the start.

“It’s a freak thing that happened. I went to change direction and it goes. You’re just trying to prevent that every happening again.”