PATIENCE has been pivotal in Soufian El Hassnaoui's introduction to life as a Hearts player.
Signed from Sparta Rotterdam in June, it was only on Sunday that the Dutch-Moroccan made his first start for Robbie Neilson's side after a groin operation and then the subsequent rehabilitation prevented him from making an earlier impact.
In a 75-minute display against Livingston, that included scoring the first of Hearts' five goals, there were signs he is intent on making up for lost time. Mobile, quick and direct, he looks like offering Neilson another option in an already impressive attacking armoury.
"I'm very happy with how my first start went," he said. "I'm delighted to score my first goal, definitely. It took a while. It's taken patience and hard work. Sometimes I was frustrated but it feels good now. A footballer only wants to play and it's frustrating but you have to focus every day and work hard to get back. I did that and it was good to be back.
"I need to get sharper. I'm not 100%. I have to play more games to get that but I will be fine once I get a run. It was great to score against Livingston but more importantly we got three points. The game was good but it could have been better. We had a lot of chances and should have scored more."
Sharing a flat with Alim Ozturk, the Hearts defender, has helped El Hassnaoui settle in to life in Scotland. "It's good living with Alim. I knew him a bit from Holland. We can help each other. We go out for dinner sometimes. You have to; if you stay at home you'd go crazy."
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