ROBBIE NEILSON believes Peter Haring will soon be ‘one of the first names on the team-sheet’ as the Hearts midfielder continues to go from strength to strength.
Haring, 27, completed his first full 90 minutes since April 13, 2019, on Tuesday evening, turning in a faultless display in the 3-1 victory over Raith Rovers.
The towering Austrian, who also captained the Jambos, has so far shown no ill-effects from the persistent pelvis and groin issues which plagued him for the best part of 18 months.
And while Neilson has previously spoken of the need to handle Haring with kid gloves, he acknowledges that the former SV Ried man is quickly becoming impossible to overlook.
He told Hearts TV: “The plan with Peter was to get to 45 minutes then ask him how he was. It was all about what Peter wanted to do.
“We weren’t worried about any recurrence of injury – it was just about how his body felt.
“It got to 45, he felt great; got to 60, good. Then it was 75 and we ended up just giving him the full game.
“It’s great for him to get back to it, and every single week I see an improvement in him. I don’t think it will be too long before he is back as one of the first names on the team-sheet.”
Meanwhile, Ben Garuccio has departed Hearts by mutual consent after slipping down the Tynecastle pecking order.
Garuccio, 25, joined the Jambos from Adelaide United in the summer of 2018 and went on to make 29 appearances for the capital club, finding the net once in a Betfred Cup tie against Inverness.
