JUHO MAKELA was so unfit when he joined Hearts in January that former boss Graham Rix rightly packed him off to boot camp.

The Finn, a £400,000 buy from HJK Helsinki, arrived at Tynecastle with a fearsome reputation as a goalscorer.

But it wasn't until last weekend that Hearts fans got their first real glimpse of what the 24-year-old hitman was capable of.

Makela came off the bench to bag his first goal in the 4-0 rout of Dunfermline in the capital.

Last night the player revealed Rix's tough fitness regime was the making of him.

And he feels he has finally settled into life in Scotland.

But it's perhaps unsurprising that Makela feels his season is ready to kick off as the SPL campaign draws to a close.

For in his homeland the season starts in the summer. Makela said: "My fitness wasn't the best when I joined Hearts and I needed the intensive training regime Graham put me and a few of the players on in February.

"I also had problems with my hamstring at that time.

"I think I am in much better shape now. I am looking forward to playing and hoping to get another chance.

"It has taken time but I have learned to adapt to the Scottish game, mentality and lifestyle.

"Living in a new country everything was new for me but I am feeling much better.

"And now I want to show the fans what I can do.

"The goal against Dunfermline meant the world to me. I was very emotional after I scored.

"It was a great moment for me and lots of emotions came out. It even made the newspapers in Finland. People were talking about my goal back home and that was a good feeling for me."

Makela insists he never once thought he had made the wrong decision in coming to Scotland despite the slow start to his Jambos career.

And he says it doesn't worry him that he will have a new manager to impress now Rix has left the club.

Makela said: "I never thought for a minute that I had made the wrong decision in joining Hearts.

"Sometimes football doesn't go as planned and you have to accept you aren't going to be an automatic choice to start every game.

"You have to work hard on the training field to make sure you play.

"It wasn't difficult for me to motivate myself when I wasn't training with the first team because wherever you are you have to work extremely hard to get to that next level.

"I never really thought about what would happen to me when Graham left. My job is the same whoever the manager is and that's to do my best in everything that I do.

"I tried to give 100 per cent in every training session under Graham and will continue to do that under the new manager. I just hope to get more first-team chances."

Makela hopes to continue to play a part in Hearts' bid for Champions League football by being in the team to face Kilmarnock at Tynecastle today.

The striker revealed he has already played in the Champions League qualifying rounds but has never made it to the group stages.

The six-times capped Finland international said: "I played in qualifiers with HJK Helsinki but we never got through to the group stages.

"We played Glentoran and MTK Budapest in 2003 and Linfield and Maccabi Tel-Aviv in 2004.

"One of the main motivations for me to come to Hearts was the prospect of playing Champions League football.

"We have a great chance of doing that next season. We have so much quality in our team we should be playing in the Champions League.

"It would be a major disappointment for everyone at the club if we didn't qualify. Getting into the Champions League is our main goal and we are all working hard to achieve that end.

"We know if we beat Kilmarnock we can clinch a UEFA Cup place but we have set ourselves a bigger goal.

"We are all focused on finishing in second in the league and winning the Scottish Cup. There is still so much for us to play for before the end of the season."

Taken from the Daily Record