Sutton relishing second chance

John Sutton: The Hearts striker and younger brother of Chris is likely to feature against St Johnstone on Saturday

John Sutton feared his Hearts career was finished after previous boss Paulo Sergio sent him on loan to the other side of the world.

The striker believes he was sent to Australian side Central Coast Mariners because he did not fit into the plans of the Portuguese manager.

Signed by Jim Jefferies on a three-year contract last summer from Motherwell, the 28-year-old was loaned out for the second part of the campaign after just nine league starts and was forced to watch his team-mates thrash city rivals Hibs 5-1 to lift the Scottish Cup on the internet.

But new manager John McGlynn has welcomed the striker back with open arms after the departures of Craig Beattie, Stephen Elliott and Rudi Skacel and Sutton is hoping to show the Hearts fans what they have been missing.

"It would have been a concern if Paulo Sergio had still been in charge," he told the Daily Record. "I can't go into the reasons why I was sent on loan but I do not think it was necessarily all to do with him not rating me as a player.

Disappointing

"I did not get that much playing time under him but I didn't feel completely out of the picture. I felt I did not do too badly which was the disappointing thing because I felt I got my foot through the door and then for whatever reason I wasn't playing again.

"Paulo said he liked me as a player but it was more to do with how he wanted the team to play and how he wanted people to fit in with that. It is easy to think the grass is always greener but I have always wanted to play for Hearts.

"I never wanted to leave, I want to do well here and hopefully we can have another successful season. We got one of the cups here last season and that final will go down in history but hopefully we can do a little better in the league and maybe get some silverware again.

"The boys did so well last season, I can't knock anything, but from a personal point of view the new manager has given me more of a chance to do well."