Hearts ace Conor Washington tells fans they have not seen the best of him - and why injury was a surprise

The Northern Ireland striker missed a large chunk of the past season

Conor Washington has told Hearts fans they have not seen the best of him yet.

The Northern Ireland international striker moved to Tynecastle last summer, but his first season at the club was curtailed early due to the shutdown, while it was also impacted by an injury lay-off.

Washington was one of Craig Levein’s key recruits a year ago, joining from Sheffield United and signing a two-year deal.

Conor Washington has told Hearts fans they have not seen the best of him. Picture: SNS

After two goals in his opening eight matches for the club, the 28-year-old suffered a thigh injury which kept him out for 15 league matches following a return from international duty.

“I hadn’t had a pre-season or anything, Washington told AM Soccer Club. “I haven’t been able to give a good account of myself over the last 12 months.

“I was just about getting up to speed, I had been away on international [duty], did well, came back and came on against Motherwell. I had a good spell of 10 or 15 minutes then it was a bit of a freak injury. I had very rarely been injured which I put down to hard work and dedication in the gym and half down to being the stiffest man alive so I can’t usually get into positions to get injured.

“I reached for a ball and then felt something in my hamstring I hadn’t felt before. I had managed to rip the tendon off the muscle.”

Being out for so long was a new experience for the striker, something which was evident when he returned for the final game of 2019, a 1-1 home draw with Aberdeen.

“I had four months out with that and came back against Aberdeen and felt ready to play because I was fit,” he said.

“I almost passed out after six minutes from running around just because I had never come back from an injury, I didn’t know what to expect.”

He added: “But just as I was getting fit I managed to score against Hibs and score against Motherwell in consecutive games – then we had the shut-down.”

Washington admits to being surprised by both Tynecastle Park and the Hearts support on arriving.

“The fans and the stadium [are the best things about the club],” he admitted. “It’s not a cliche because they genuinely are.

“I was surprised by how big and grand the stadium was when I first joined. Even when we’ve been doing terribly the atmosphere has been good.

“The rivalry [with Hibs] as well. It's a great game.”