Hearts' winger Andrew Driver is determined to play his part in Hearts final push for the top six

The 22-year-old (pictured) has spent much of this campaign ruled out by a troublesome knee injury and his spell on the sidelines coincided with a poor run of form that saw Hearts slump towards the foot of the table. However things have started to look up, both for the Oldham-born Hearts star, who returned to the first-team fray in last month's Edinburgh derby, and for Jim Jefferies' side.

After scoring the opener in the 2-1 victory over Hibs, Driver then played 87 minutes of last weekend's draw with St Mirren and he is desperate to play his part again tomorrow when Hearts host Kilmarnock in a fixture that will either make or break their season.

Against the odds, the Jambos can secure a place in the top six with a draw or victory over Jimmy Calderwood's side tomorrow in the final round of fixtures before the league splits.

The winger, who was replaced by David Templeton with just a few minutes remaining against the Buddies last weekend, was relieved not to suffer any after effects on the joint the following day.

He's hoping that's a sign of more positive things to come over the course of the next six matches and said: "I played for basically 90 minutes last weekend against St Mirren without any kind of reaction, which was great, because that's the first time I've been able to do that.

"I'm hoping that means I will be totally fine now and I am just looking forward to getting a few more games in before the end of the season.

"There is nothing worse than being injured and knowing that you can't help the team out, so my main aim now is to make sure that I get a good run of games in and then start looking ahead to getting a good pre-season in after the break.

"I just want to end on a positive note because you always want to remember the highlights of a season, not just all of the lowlights." If the Jambos secure a place in the top six tomorrow, it would mark a massive turnaround in fortunes for the Gorgie outfit and their attentions would then turn to entering the race for Europe.

A point would be enough to edge St Johnstone out of the picture, despite the fact that they don't play their game until Sunday and Driver continued: "It is good to come towards the end of the season and still have something to play for, there are no meaningless games for us.

"We go into this game at the weekend needing at least a point to make sure of a place in the top six this season but, to be honest, we have all got bigger aspirations than that.

"We want to finish this season as high up the league as we possibly can and if we can get one of those European places then that would be brilliant.

"There's no doubting the fact that this is a massive game and we don't just want to go out and scrape a draw, we want to make sure that we win it.

"It would be a huge turn around for us if we were able to get into Europe because we had a terrible start to the season.

"We've done quite well in recent times though and we have managed to claw our way back up the league table again.

"A few of the teams above us in the league have maybe faltered a wee bit here and there and that has allowed us to make up some ground. We've managed to do a bit of catching up and kept our season alive really because there's nothing worse than playing out meaningless games in the bottom six in the final weeks of the season."

However, to give themselves any chance of snatching a Euro spot away from any of their rivals, Driver knows that Hearts must add more consistency to their game.

"We've got six games now to go out and continue to improve our performances and our results.

"The new manager is always looking to build on results and I think that we'll see the real effect that he can have on the team when he gets a full season under his belt.

"I know we have got a long way, and a little bit of luck, to go before we can think about Europe but I think that everyone knows we can challenge every single team in this league when we are on top of our game.

"We need to get a bit of consistency about us and as many points in the bag as possible and if we can do that then you never know what can happen."

Driver has seen a marked improvement in Hearts' performances in recent months, particularly in the threat they carry up front.

He believes that David Obua has been given a hew lease of life by being pushed further forward by Jefferies and his number two, Billy Brown and says the Jambos can reap the rewards of a more potent attack force.

The winger added: "I think that the way we are playing right now, we are showing commitment and more impetus going forward.

"In the last few games I think we have showed more invention and threat going forward, but we still have to find consistency, do that on a regular basis and that is what the manager will be looking for from us next.

"I think David has been brilliant up front recently and he'll always win headers for you. I think he has been given a new lease of life by playing up front.

"I am sure that he will take his chance and he's thriving right now.

"I think it all comes down to time, the manager hasn't had a lot of that but hopefully we will be playing the way that he wants us to, week-in, week-out come the end of the season."

Kilmarnock may have won only one from their last eight matches, but Driver insists that the Ayrshire side will make it tough for his team tomorrow.

And, with the top six carrot dangling in front of them, Driver reckons there no need for any extra motivation from Jefferies tomorrow: "The manager doesn't really need to say anything to us to motivate us this weekend, we all know what we need to do.

"Every player wants to be involved in big games and to win big games and that's what we have to do against Kilmarnock on Saturday.

"We want to have something to aim for – and we want to know that we'll be playing Hibs again, Rangers and Celtic again.

"It's all in our hands at the moment and we want to make sure that we keep it that way. We know that they are fighting for their lives and that they will be giving it 100 per cent for every single ball. But I think that's a good thing for the fans because it's not a meaningless match and it's got all of the ingredients to be a great game for them to watch and for us to be involved in."