Hearts forward Liam Boyce is adamant he can still get back to his best after being badly hindered by injuries over the past two seasons.
The 33-year-old suffered an ACL injury in August 2022 that ended his season, and then, after returning last summer, he struggled to get any genuine momentum last term before a hamstring issue that required surgery ruled him out from December to May.
With a full pre-season under his belt, Northern Ireland international Boyce, a prolific scorer for most of his career, feels he remains capable of making a big impact for Hearts.
“I’m feeling good, finally,” he said ahead of today’s William Hill Premiership opener at home to Rangers.
“I got through all of pre-season. In the off-season, I just kept doing my own training with the sports scientist and physios to put myself in the best place. It was good to be able to attack pre-season and be ready to go.
“I’m always confident in my ability. I just need to focus more on my recovery after matches.
“When I got injured last season, I’d played about 10 games in a row. The first three or four games back, I was feeling sluggish and not used to the pace of the game, but the most frustrating thing about getting injured again was that after I got a run of games, I was starting to feel better, I was more involved with assists and scoring.
“I just need to focus on staying on the pitch and being available to help my team-mates.”
With former Cliftonville striker Boyce becoming a peripheral figure at Hearts over the last two seasons due to his fitness issues, fellow forward Lawrence Shankland has become the team’s main threat.
After hitting 59 goals since joining in 2022, the Jambos captain has been persistently linked with a move away.
“It happened with me when I was scoring goals at Ross County and Burton, but you can’t think about it (speculation) too much or you start thinking about every touch you’re taking and stuff,” Boyce said.
“Shanks just comes in as normal, he’s our captain and he leads by example. He’s been brilliant with all the publicity going around, he’s just focused on scoring goals. That’s what he’s done the last two years, and I’m sure it will continue this season.”