Daniel Stendel has praised Jamie Walker for upping his game, but now wants him to show he has the ambition to play regularly under the German.
Walker didn’t feature initially in the early weeks of Stendel’s reign due to a knee injury, having already come back from a broken leg under Craig Levein.
But the current Hearts boss admitted he wanted to see more from the winger in training before bringing him back in to the fold.
The 26-year-old seems to have taken that on board, and has been rewarded with appearances off the bench in the Jambos’ last two games against Kilmarnock and Falkirk.
Walker set up Craig Halkett against Killie as Hearts produced a late rally after being three goals down, and looked dangerous in the second half of Saturday’s 1-0 Scottish Cup win over the Bairns.
Stendel knows Walker has the quality to be a force at Tynecastle – when he’s at it in training – but now wants to see a desire to make himself a regular rather than an impact sub.
‘We have had a chat with him,” said Stendel. “I’ve heard so much about how he can be an important player for our team but I expect more from him in training.
“I think he understands and he’s showed in the last two games he can help us. It was a good feeling for me and I hope a good feeling for him that he can do more than before.
“We need our best players on the pitch and when he plays and trains like this he is one of the best players in our team.
‘I want to see if he has the ambition to play. In the past he’s got a lot of goals, he was an important player in possession and in offence.
“But our game is intensive and we need everyone to push. I have the feeling he understands that. I want every player to try and improve all the time.
‘I want people to improve every day. When the players understand that we are on the right track.”
