It was just before the hour mark when interim boss Liam Fox turned to his bench as Heart of Midlothian trailed Ross County 1-0 at Tynecastle Park in the first match following Steven Naismith's dismissal as head coach. Blair Spittal was summoned, replacing Cammy Devlin as part of a double substitution.

Up until that point in his short Hearts career, the impact of the summer arrival from Motherwell had been negibile. Against County, Spittal gave the team a lift and brought a bit more intensity to the team's play. He followed it up with a good performance in the win over Dinamo Minsk in Azerbaijan. Those two appearances have acted as a launchpad. He has been very good since, at times terrific, earning the club's Player of the Month award for October.

Speaking exclusively to Hearts Standard, he admitted that while he knew what to expect regarding the expectations, by making the step up from the Steelmen to the Jam Tarts "it was maybe going to take a wee bit of time to get used to it, to establish myself".

In turn it was made all the more tricky with how the team were performing as a whole and the ramifications it had on individuals.

"Everyone wants to hit the ground running but there's a couple of factors for why that might not happen," he explained. "I don't think results were going our way. You're constantly changing the team to try and find the right formula to get results.

"It was kind of hard the first couple of months to try and get a wee bit of rhythm. You'd maybe come in for a game and start but we wouldn't win. You'd hold your hands up if you came out of the team. At the same time, I think every player would tell you that they want that run of games to build up that match fitness, match sharpness to make sure you're at the optimum level."

He has been afforded that under Neil Critchley following on from Fox's tenure as interim coach.

A "stop start" beginning to life at Hearts has given way to starting the last nine matches. He is one of only five players to have started all seven of Critchley's games in charge.

Spittal has "felt a wee bit more at home" at Tynecastle Park, settled into the life at the club on and off the park regularly travelling to and from training with Barrie McKay and Craig Halkett.

For the 28-year-old he has experience of changing clubs, of having to integrate and get used to new surroundings. The summer switch from Fir Park was his sixth transfer. He is well placed to discuss the intricacies that come with switching teams and starting over somewhere new.

It's something that goes back to his teenage years when he followed in the footsteps of Andy Robertson, swapping the then amateurs of Queen's Park for Dundee United.

"The more experience you gain throughout your career, I think that helps," he said. "Don't get me wrong, I remember what I was like the first time I moved clubs from Queen's Park to Dundee United. Probably for the first four or five months I didn't speak. That doesn't help in terms of settling in and getting to know everyone.

"When you come into a new club you want to find out things about everyone, the boys you sit next to and the changing room, what they're like etc. It's a good changing room that I came into, settled in pretty quickly and got used to the boys.

"I was coming from a very good changing room at Motherwell. I had a good group of senior boys there that were really good. It helps when coming in that me and Penners [James Penrice] had played together before, and Lawrence [Shankland] as well.

"Getting in early doors in the car school was also a good help in settling in as well. I knew what to expect from the club coming in."

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Moving club is more than just getting used to a new manager and a new group of players. It could be something as small as a new routine or something as big as uprooting your life. 

That wasn't the case this time around for Spittal, remaining in the central belt. But he's twice before experienced moving away from home, something a few of the summer recruits will have had to contend with.

"I moved up to Dundee when I was 18," he said. "That's only an hour and a half away from my house but it was a big step moving out my mum and dads. I felt I needed to grow up so I was left to fend for myself.

"Then when I moved to Ross County it was a wee bit different because I had my missus at the time we'd just got engaged and then I was just off and away and she was working down here. She was working in Paisley at the time. I was away Monday to Friday up in Inverness and then coming home at the weekend, sometimes during the week.

"I was trying to find that balance between family life and professional life which is the hardest part but I managed to find that over the last couple of years. My third year at Ross County my missus moved up with me. She gave up her work for the year and I was just like, 'We're going to give this a good go and just see what happens'.

"I felt as though for me to get the best out of football I'd have to commit to living up there instead of having to do all the travel because it can be a nightmare as you can expect. 

"I think people probably don't see it from that perspective. They just see you coming to the club and they just expect everything to go swimmingly but there's other factors that come into play for you to find your best level when you feel like you really fit in at clubs."

Spittal had plenty of time to consider his move to Hearts. It was a well-known secret midway through the campaign that he was Tynecastle bound when his deal at Motherwell expired having learned of Hearts' interest not long into the new year.

It did mean, however, he was in one of those awkward situations where he was still playing for one club while having his next move already lined up.

(Image: SNS Group)

"I had a really good relationship with Stuart Kettlewell at Motherwell," Spittal said. "He understood my situation and where I was. I felt like I was playing at a really good level. I'd been playing consistently well since I went to Motherwell. He always knew what my situation was and we were always pretty honest with each other.

"He knew that I was never going to be one to put down tools. I think my performances showed that even after I decided I was joining Hearts. I never ever stopped trying my best for Motherwell. I wanted them to do well.

"It can be a tricky situation. It was common knowledge that I was coming to Hearts without officially saying that. If results aren't going well, you're the first to get it in the neck. In games, I was always going out to do my best. That's all you can ask for really."

Spittal was at a point in his career where he was ready for a new challenge at, if not a higher level, a club where the demands and expectations are higher.

Playing the way he had been for the Steelmen will have opened plenty of doors and options to consider. Yet, even with such a decision, it was "fairly straightforward" to move to the Capital.

"As soon as Hearts came in for me, I wanted to come here," he said. "Speaking to my family about it, they totally understood my position and why I would want to do that. I felt like it was the right time in my career to challenge myself at that level.

"Throughout my career, up until the last couple of seasons, I feel as though I've performed well in spells but not really put a consistent run together. Whereas at Motherwell, I felt like I was performing week in, week out to benefit from that. I felt like now was the right time to push for the next level and challenge myself to see how far I can take it."

Having explained his situation at Motherwell and how his consistency pushed him onto another level, ready for the move to Hearts, it was put to him whether the thought ever crossed his mind that such a move was beyond him.

If you were to pinpoint a moment in this season where it started to turn for the midfielder you would look at that Ross County game. The opposition were appropriate considering they are the team where Spittal believes his career in general turned around.

"I can remember at one point, it was in the Covid season when I went on loan back to [Partick] Thistle and they were in League 1 at the time," he said. "I wasn't getting a chance at Ross County for one reason or another, it just wasn't working out.

"I think there was a point towards the end of that season where I was willing to leave Ross County and I was wanting to go back to Thistle, just to get closer to home.

"Going back to when Malky Mackay came in at Ross County, I ended up staying up there, that was the best thing that happened to me in that sense. The belief that he showed in me. Obviously still playing in the top-flight and managing to play week in, week out at Ross County and we managed to have a good season then and get the top six.

"That was the turning point for me, the consistency of performances and learning from the bad times that I've had in my career and that there are good things ahead I suppose."

The start of the campaign was, in a way, a microcosm of that. While it may not have been a bad time it wasn't the perfect start but there were good things ahead for the player.

With his lived experience, Spittal has learned to have that patience, to not get too in your head. It's the advice he would give any player, no matter their age, when switching clubs.

"I felt a bit of expectation coming in, obviously I had a good season last year in terms of goals and assists, that's what I want to base my game on," he said. "The position I play on the pitch, you're judged on that.

"So just try to not put too much pressure on yourself, it'll take care of itself. Just make sure you get yourself settled in quickly. The football side of things will take care of itself eventually. That's probably the best bit of advice I would give.

"It will take as long as it takes but you'll get there."

Spittal has got there. Now he's one of the first names on the team sheet.