Michael Steinwender is getting used to his new surroundings at Oriam and admits he’s received a warm welcome and a helping hand from his new teammates.
The Austrian central defender arrived earlier in the month from Swedish side IFK Varnamo and while he awaits his Hearts debut, he’s already familiarising himself with his new surroundings.
Speaking to the media ahead of the Jambos’ William Hill Premiership match against Dundee, Steinwender said:
“It was a pretty warm welcome. Everybody helped me with everything. We were living in the hotel next to here, but everybody in the club really helped me to settle in, also the players helped with things like, where I can put my boots and everything.
“When I was in Sweden, obviously the players are speaking Swedish, so it was a little bit harder for me, because when you come into the dressing room and everybody is speaking Swedish it's a little bit harder to get to know the players and settle in, but here my English is not the best, but it's also OK, so I understand most here. So, it's much easier to settle in and get to know everybody, and also when you play on the field everybody is talking English, which is obviously easier for me.”
The Swedish season finished at the end of November, but Steinwender admits he’s ready if called upon and believes his playing style will suit Scottish football.
“If I’m called up, I'm ready, but of course I also came from a season in Sweden, where the season ended at the end of November, so I also kept doing my programme. But of course, you also need to know the other players, how they are acting as a player on the field, you need to get to know everybody, and it's only been two weeks now if I'm right, but of course, I'm very excited to make my debut.
“As a playing style, what we want to have at Hearts, it is a physical league, but I'm also physical. I like to play hard, so I'm looking forward to this. But we also want to be a team that has the ball most of the time, but of course there will also be times when we don't have the ball so much and we need to go into the duels and into the fights. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to this.”
Having been introduced to Tynecastle at half-time against Kilmarnock last weekend, Michael admits he was impressed with the atmosphere.
“The atmosphere in the stadium is amazing, but as a professional football player you are waiting for those moments, so, yeah, it was a really good moment in my career.”
You can watch Michael’s press conference in full on Hearts TV.
