Oisin McEntee has become a key player at Tynecastle Park since moving in the summer. (Image: Neil Hanna / Shutterstock)
Oisin McEntee has become a key player at Tynecastle Park since moving in the summer. (Image: Neil Hanna / Shutterstock)
On Oisin McEntee's left shoulder is a pretty significant scar. It is the result of "a really bad shoulder reconstruction".
It's one of the injuries he suffered early in his career that serves as a reminder of the tough times and what he has gone through.
That particular injury kept him out for seven months during the early period of his time at Walsall.
Now a regular in Derek McInnes' Heart of Midlothian starting XI, the current high of his career is all the more special.
"It was just after signing for Walsall after coming from Newcastle, so I had a few years on a contract, so I was always going to do my rehab," he explained. "But I was lucky with my surgeon, a really good surgeon in Dublin. I've had more injuries, but you just deal with that only as a football player."
"I basically dislocated it at the back and then chipped the top of my arm bone off and I had to get my shoulder blade put into my arm bone, and nailed through it to fuse to a new bone. It's nasty," he said in what sounds like an understatement.
"I think it does make it that extra bit special. It's a long time out, and you're just disappointed, and you're on your own over in England, but these times definitely make it worth it."
These times are, of course, spent at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.
While some fans were unsure of an arrival from England's fourth tier, McInnes was effusive about what he would bring to his side. The Irishman knew there would be a "period of adjustment", and he was correct in thinking he had "adapted quite well".
"League Two's probably the same physicality levels, and you can probably get away with more down there, but definitely it's more intense up here, and the ball moves quicker, and it's very end-to-end up here," he said.
"I think it's just so intense and so quick. You just have to move the ball quickly, and you just always have to be switched on. That's probably the biggest thing I've learnt personally."
He has started all seven league games. The first three were in the middle of the park before switching to the right due to an injury to Christian Borchgrevink.
For McEntee, he doesn't care where he plays.
"With our personnel, we don't really have anyone there at the minute. I actually don't know what he [McInnes] sees me as now, but I think he just knows that I'm happy to play anywhere, whether that be in midfield or right back. I think he knows that, so hopefully just keep playing," he noted.
The 24-year-old has a strong Irish accent, but he was actually born in New York. He used the international break to return to the States to visit family and friends. And he took a couple of team mates with him.
The Hearts squad has a number of players who are big NFL fans, including Zander Clark and Stephen Kingsley. The trio took in the New York Giants' 34-17 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Great news for Clark and McEntee, but less so for Kingsley.
"I love visiting New York and my family out there. The two boys are big NFL fans as well, so we went and saw the Giants and the Eagles game, and it was amazing," McEntee said,
"Me and Zander are Giants fans, and Stephen's an Eagles fan, so it was good that the Giants finally won."
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He added: "They're doing very well at the minute, just because they have a few new rookies and stuff like that. I think there's a good future. They haven't been very good for a few years."
Spending plenty of time in America, it was only natural that McEntee would have a love of American football.
"My mum and dad lived there for 20 years, and then me and my sister were born there, and we moved home when I was two, and my sister would have been six or seven," he said. "My sister's been out there since she was 22 for about seven years, so I go out there most summers. Then we have family friends and stuff like that there.
"I've always loved it, so it was special to get out and see Thursday Night Football."
Focus switches back to the real football on Saturday, a trip to Rugby Park to face Kilmarnock and a chance to extend their lead over Celtic at the top, at least for a short while.
McEntee gave the idea of pressure short shrift as he explained how the dressing room is coping with being in such a position and the attention that comes with it.
"I don't, because you just have to play football, and you're here to play football," he said when asked about feeling any pressure. "Ever since I was a little kid, you want to be playing at this level, and doing well.
"And talking back to injuries and stuff, you're waiting for times like this, and you just want to enjoy it.
"I think everyone in this training ground has just a good way about them as people and all just have a bit of crack and chat away. Nothing's really taken too seriously where there's pressure being put on ourselves.
"I think we're all just taking it week by week and really enjoying it."
That enjoyment will continue with a win in Ayrshire.