Peter Haring lost six months of last season after suffering a brutal concussion. But Hearts’ midfield enforcer insists that won’t stop him going head first into the new campaign which he’s confident will be memorable for all the right reasons.
Haring’s influence in the Jambos’ engine room was sorely missed after he took a hefty knock in the closing stages of October’s 2-0 defeat at Aberdeen. Serious concerns were raised again for the Austrian when he was helped off after just 19 minutes of the season-ending derby draw with Hibs in May after another blow to his head just six games after returning from his original lay-off.
But Haring has been given the all-clear and has his focus firmly on making up for lost time in the new campaign. During his extended lay-off Robbie Neilson lost his job as the Jambos lost heir grip on third place.With his own contract being up and question marks over the option Hearts held to trigger an extra year, Haring could have been forgiven for wondering if he would be following his old boss out the door.
But after returning to play a key role in the upturn of form under Steven Naismith in the closing seven games of the season the Austrian is back for another 12 months - and couldn’t be happier.
Haring flew out to Marbella with the rest of the Tynecastle squad yesterday for their warm weather training camp. And the 30-year-old is confident sunnier times lie ahead after a gloomy campaign in Gorgie.
He said: “The feeling about next season is excitement. Especially for me personally because I’ve missed so much of last season.
“For a lot of us it’s a fresh start under a new manager. Naisy took care of the last seven games but this is his first pre-season and the first time he will put a real stamp on how he wants us to play and what he wants from every player.
“It’s a fresh start and I’m really excited about going into the new season because there’s a big target going into Europe again which is achievable I think. I was happy to get back in and be part of the team in the last few games.
“This is my sixth season now. I’ve been here five years. I know the club and I feel really at home here.
“I’ve been involved in football long enough. You get used to these things with contracts.
“Of course it can affect you but I try as much as I can to not think about it too much. Usually if you’re too concerned and you overthink situations then it’s pointless. It will take care of itself usually.
“If you think too much then it’s wasting energy. We had very important games at the end of the season. We all had to be focused. With age you know better how to deal with situations and I’m delighted to be here.”
Two heavy head blows might knock the stuffing out of some footballers but given his game is based on winning the midfield battle Haring insists he won’t be ducking out of 50/50s any time soon.
After reading up on similar - and even longer - concussion lay-offs in other sports he’s got no fears. Even if the derby dunt meant his summer holidays were delayed.
He said: “I’m feeling good. Obviously I wanted to see how my head reacted after the last game.
“I got subbed quite early against Hibs and had to stay back at the club for a few days to do checks afterwards. I lost a couple of days holiday! But that’s fine as long as everything is good.
“Ideally after you get a head knock then you can play on. But I couldn’t because it was too much of an impact.
“Even after the last one took so long for me to come back, I was never afraid to take another knock on the head because I know these things happen in football.
“I was looking at other sports as well. There’s ice hockey players, rugby players whatever who are out for six, nine even 12 months sometimes.
“So unfortunately those things can happen and you can’t really control them. But as much as it was frustrating I knew everything would get back to normal.”
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