It may appear to Hearts fans that James Penrice took to playing with the club regularly like a duck to water.
But the left-back has now shared it hasn’t quite been as plain-sailing as some may think. Penrice moved to Hearts in the summer after his contract at Livingston expired.
And he’s kicked on to become the club’s undisputed first-choice left-back and has been putting in a string of excellent performances of late.
He was outstanding against Celtic on Saturday despite the 4-1 defeat and that was recognised by the fawning Hearts support during and after the game.
Penrice is embracing every moment and feels he his now playing his best football after not having a pre-season in the summer due to an injury sustained last season.
Penrice’s honest Hearts admission
But the 25-year-old has been honest about his transition to Gorgie. In a frank assessment, he admitted: “If it looks like that (a seamless transition), that’s probably good. It’s been difficult, I’m not going to lie.
“It was a different way of playing. I’ve had to get used to that. I didn’t really have a pre-season as well.
“It was difficult from January on and then when I knew this was going to happen, it’s just been excitement.
“I just want to get on the pitch and try and perform for a win.”
Penrice hails Hearts backing ahead of Cercle Brugge clash
Penrice is experiencing European football for the first time this season and was a huge reason in why he came to Hearts in the summer.
And he tipped his hat to the more than 3,000 Hearts supporters making their way to Brugge and wants to do them all proud on Thursday night.
He said: “There’s no words you can put together. They’re going to be here and they’re going to be loud.
“Even in the airport today, the airport was full of hard fans. That’s what we want. We want the backing and we need to go and show that we can go and pull out a result.
“Every game should be the same. You should want to win. Whether there’s 15,000 Hearts fans or 5,000 Hearts fans, you should want to go and win games. There’s a belief from us and a demand from ourselves that we can go and do that.
“Europe has been good to be fair. Playing where I was last year and then coming here and playing on big European nights, it’s been good.
“I’ve said it before, I think the big games every couple of days and then playing in Europe, it was a massive attraction and I’m just glad I’m doing it.
“Even the (Europa Conference League) song getting played before the match, it was a bit of a weird one the first time I heard it. It’s been a crazy year, but for me and my family it’s been brilliant and I look forward to these games.
“It’s just taking every game as it comes, really. It will be the same. We’ll look towards Sunday after this game, but the focus is on tomorrow and going and putting three points on the board.”