Frustrated Peter Haring has held talks with Hearts management

Peter Haring's re-appearance in a Hearts staring line-up caused slight surprise at Livingston on Tuesday. Almost four months had passed since the Austrian midfielder's previous start for the Edinburgh club as he seemed to fall out of favour. That led to inevitable frustration and then talks with club management.

This is Haring's sixth season at Tynecastle Park and his contract is due to expire in a few months. There have been no talks over an extension. The only discussions between the player and head coach Steven Naismith have centred around his game time. Livingston was only Haring's eighth appearance of the season and he has asked what he needs to do in order to play more frequently.

"I think I have always been speaking to him. There's nothing special, it's just the way the situation is. You know when you're not getting game time it is the most frustrating thing in football, especially when you are fit. Trying to do everything right, it's frustrating, but I'm glad I could help the team on Tuesday. 

"There is lots of competition and the team has been doing well. We've probably been one of the most in-form teams over the last 10 games. If the team is picking up points, there's no reason for the manager to change too much. That's the tough side of football. You have to accept it and keep working hard."

As the longest-serving Hearts player, Haring is well qualified to judge the current squad compared to others. "It's as good as it has been since I've been here. We've got a lot of numbers and the manager has got a lot of options. I think the results, especially in the last couple of months, prove that," he said.

Tuesday's victory was Hearts' eighth away win in all competitions this season. The club have struggled with form outwith Tynecastle for many years and, by comparison, won just six away matches across the whole of last term. One of those was a European tie and another two were Scottish Cup matches.

"That was one of the things Naisy told us before the start of the season, that over the years away form hasn't been good enough. It's one thing that's needed to improve and get better. So far it is working," explained Haring.

"It was not a pretty game at Livingston as everyone could see. But we knew, on that pitch in those circumstances, it is always going to be a scrap and a fight. If we show our quality and play better football, we can make it more enjoyable. I think, especially in the first half, we weren't really good enough on the ball and made it hard for ourselves.

"Unfortunately, it took us too long to show that [more aggressive] side. We were lucky not to be 1-0 down with the offside goal. I think that gave us another push that we needed. I thought from 15-20 minutes on we did better. We weren't in control or anything like that, we weren't good enough on the ball, but we accepted the circumstances and what the game was going to be like and it was better."

Goals from Kenneth Vargas and Lawrence Shankland put the visitors 2-0 ahead in West Lothian before Andrew Shinnie's late penalty brought Livingston back into the game. Shankland's early penalty was saved by the Livi goalkeeper Jack Hamilton, but he recovered to find the net for the sixth consecutive Premiership game.

"Eventually, he did," smiled Haring. "You know, you've seen last season, when you have Shanks on the pitch he almost guarantees you a goal a game. It doesn't matter if we are playing badly or better he is always there and can take his chances. It's brilliant. What do you want me to say, he's proven it again. Even on worse days, he can decide games."