Alex Cochrane is hoping to rediscover his early-season form as he bids to help Hearts finish their campaign on a high.

The on-loan Brighton wing-back made a swift impression at Tynecastle as he established himself as a regular in Robbie Neilson’s team and chipped in with three goals.

But since the end of November, he has started only seven of Hearts’ 14 matches and admits he needs to get back to the consistent levels he showed when he first arrived in Edinburgh.

“At the start I was happy with how I played but now I need to get more consistency in my game again and pick up from where I was at the start of the season,” he said. “I’m learning that you’re not always going to have a perfect game. I’m learning things on the pitch and I’m learning things about myself that I’m trying to move forward with.

“The team have had plenty of games in the past weeks so I’ve just had to be ready when the opportunity comes. I’m just getting used to playing one week and being on the bench the next. I’ve got to keep focusing on doing what I know I can do best on the pitch.”

Hearts’ form has dipped in recent weeks but they still remain in command of the race for third place in the cinch Premiership and have a Scottish Cup quarter-final against St Mirren to look forward to.

Cochrane admits the intense recent fixture list has taken an edge off the team but he is confident that having no midweek game for the first time since the winter break can help them recover their spark as they prepare to travel to St Johnstone on Saturday.

“At the start of the season we did very well but we have to keep pushing to the end and keep those standards up for the rest of the season,” he said. “In recent weeks we may have gone off the boil a little bit but when you have games so frequently that sometimes happens.

“It’s been a tough run for the team. There were a lot of games in a short space of time but at the end of the day we’re still 10 points clear and we’ve progressed in the cup, which is what we wanted to do.

“Performances may not have been the best but we’re still in a good place and looking to kick on and move forward.”