Hearts winger Billy King admits he is putting in extra hours on the training pitch to give himself the best chance of pinning down a regular place in Robbie Neilson’s side.
The Scotland Under-21 cap only made his sixth Premiership start of the season in last weekend’s 6-0 trouncing of Motherwell, with another eight appearances coming from the bench.
King has scored two goals in a total of 19 appearances this season but the 21-year-old admits he wants to become a greater threat in the final third in a bid to earn more game time.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s clash at Hamilton, King said: “I need to work on scoring more goals. I stay behind after training and work on that everyday with Craw [Stevie Crawford]. I’m working on my all-round game though.
“It’s been disappointing for me so far this season considering how much I played last season. It’s difficult.
“There’s times where I’ve come in and, in my opinion, done well, so it’s been difficult sitting on the sidelines. You just need to be patient.
“I’d like to think I’m quite patient. I just work away everyday, try and do the right things and don’t let my head go down. I’ll just continue doing that.
“The manager’s told me I just need to wait for my opportunity and it’ll come.
“It came against Motherwell and I put in a good performance, so hopefully this can be the start of a wee run in the team.”
King, who scored nine goals in 33 appearances during last season’s Championship title triumph, insists he does not plan to request a loan move.
He added: “That hasn’t been discussed. I’ve still played more than some other players here.
“I’m still coming on most games and helping the team. If I don’t play on the Saturday, I get 90 minutes with the 20s, so I’m still getting game time.
“I don’t think it’s stunting my development, I still feel like I’m developing.
“I’m coming on in games and I feel like I’m improving every day in training. I’m quite happy.”
