Larry Kingston: I have never cheated Hearts

Speaking for the first time on a breakdown of relations with Csaba Laszlo plus allegations of feigning injury and of his long-term future, the Ghanaian does not hold back in a thoroughly candid Evening News interview.

On Sunday, he will take his place against Rangers at Ibrox hoping to inspire Hearts towards the Europa League in the first of five post-split SPL fixtures. He cannot contemplate taking part in continental competition next season as his contract expires in a matter of weeks, thus a meeting with a Tynecastle board member to ordain his future would be rather timely.

It becomes clear during conversation that the contract issue is not the player's only bugbear.

Setting the record straight on his personal integrity is equally important to a man vilified by all and sundry of late. Wage thief to mercenary, chancer to time-waster, Kingston has endured all manner of insults.

He found himself marginalised under Laszlo as a combination of injuries and a fallout with the manager threatened to dismantle his entire Hearts career. He made just 12 appearances at club level throughout the whole of 2009, but Jefferies' appointment prompted a resurrection and the player is now finally reproducing consistent form.

Some things remain prominent in his mind from those darkest days, however.

What irked most were accusations that he invented injuries. "That was the impression a lot of people had. But I promise you, every injury I have had at this club, I have evidence of," he said. "I have the scans, my medical records and everything is there. It's true. Every injury I have I go for a scan and then the physio sees I'm f***ed.

"I have never feigned injuries, even since I was young. I love football and I wanted to play every minute. Even if I am injured, if you ask the physios, they will tell you I want to play. The doctor can say I need two or three weeks to recover, after one-and-a-half weeks I want to play. It's not true when people are saying Kingston is feigning injuries. Every injury I've got is genuine."

Kingston blames Laszlo for much of the unrest. The Hungarian spoke on several occasions about requiring players who were committed to the Hearts cause, inferring that the midfielder had other priorities such as international commitments with Ghana.

"It was a very difficult time for me because of what I went through with Csaba," continued Kingston. "He gave me a tough time here. I still have a love for the club. I know he has been saying Kingston is not committed to Hearts but that was wrong. I loved this club from the first day I came here. Every game I play for this club I have been giving everything before he came here.

"What Csaba was saying was not true.

"It was very difficult for me when the injuries started coming. Csaba was giving me problems and I was unlucky with my fitness. I'm sure, if I didn't have the injuries during that period, I would have gone on to prove everyone wrong. Every time I got injured people were thinking 'this is Kingston doing this'. That was because of what Csaba said.

"A lot of people only know one side of the story, they didn't know what was really happening. I can explain to everybody but it's gone now, finished. I'm concentrating on the future. There is a saying that if you talk about the past you never move forward. The past is gone and I'm looking forward to new things happening for me.

"During the difficult times, I still said 'I'm going to hang on and prove to everyone that I'm capable of giving everything for this club'. I wanted to do that just in case anything happens and I do leave.

"Now the injury problems have gone, I'm concentrating on my fitness and working hard in training. I've been doing extra training myself and it's helping me."

The improvement in performance might be too little too late for some but Kingston harbours ambitions of signing a contract extension to remain with Hearts into his 30s. Questions will linger over his application based on the last year and a half, although his talent is not in doubt.

What cannot be debated is that he seems to have developed a deep-rooted affection for Tynecastle since arriving in January 2007. This might originally be down to the fact he had just fled war-torn Chechnya having been on loan at Terek Grozny and was grateful for the sanctuary. Nonetheless, the African openly expresses his love for Hearts and said he would consider any new contract proposal from majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov. The prospect of a wage drop for one of the club's highest earners is realistic with operating costs continuing to be trimmed, yet Kingston is not dismissive.

"When I first joined the club I was so happy. I started very well with Hearts but sometimes things happen in football. You meet difficulties but they are finished now. I'm happy JJ came in and everything changed. He has confidence in me and I'm enjoying my football again. "Honestly, I'm very happy here. I've already told the management that I'm waiting for them to put something on the table. If they start talking to me and put something on the table, I'm happy. They have not talked to me yet so I don't have any idea about what to do if they cut the wages or if they will offer higher wages. We haven't talked about it yet."

Should he find himself round a table with Romanov and his associates in the coming weeks, any monies on offer will be a major talking point. But Kingston is adamant he should not be accused of thieving wages.