HAVING SPENT MUCH of the season on the periphery, Aaron McEneff was delighted to help Hearts grind out an away win at Livingston on Sunday.

The Derryman signed for the Scottish side from Shamrock Rovers in February, committing to two-and-a-half years at Tynecastle.

The 2021/22 season hasn’t been a straightforward one for McEneff, 26, but after starting against Livingston and Celtic over the past week, he’s hoping to push on.

“It has been difficult at times being out of the squad and being on the bench,” he conceded, speaking after impressing in Sunday’s 2-1 win.

“You want to get a run and keep yourself going. I’ve started the last two and hopefully I can kick on from that.”

McEneff admitted Hearts were delighted to grind out an ugly victory at Livingston after failing to take three points from previous away games where they had played far better.

The Jambos notched their first win on their travels since August through Liam Boyce’s second-half strike at the Tony Macaroni Arena, but only after weathering a first-half storm from the hosts.

Hearts were left to rue missed chances earlier in the season as they were held to draws away to Ross County and St Johnstone, despite playing well, so Irish midfielder McEneff was thrilled to help his team leave West Lothian with three points when not at their best.

He said: “It’s a good thing to get an away win. We have probably played better away from home than we did against Livingston and dropped points, so it’s a great feeling to pick up three points away from home.

“We didn’t really come out of the blocks in the first half. For whatever reason we didn’t get going and Livingston were well on top. But we have a top-class goalkeeper and he kept us in it.

“Then we changed our shape a bit and when we got in at half-time 0-0 we knew we had to lift ourselves and I think we did that. We came out in the second half like a different team.”

McEneff was full of praise for Scotland ‘keeper Craig Gordon after he produced an incredible triple save to keep Hearts on level terms in the first half.

“He is just unbelievable. He does it every day in training. I stay behind in training most days and hit shots at the big man.

“Sometimes he’s lying on the ground before the ball is even hit and he’s just plucking them out of the air. He’s different class.”

Third-placed Hearts are now five points clear of both Dundee United and Motherwell in the battle for a European place as they prepare to host cinch Premiership leaders Rangers next Sunday.

“We have started well this year, but we don’t focus too much on what’s around us,” McEneff said. “We try to focus on ourselves. We’ve got a big game next Sunday against Rangers so we will prepare properly this week and focus on that.”