Jose Goncalves admits leaving Hearts last season for a loan spell at German team Nurnberg has been the making of him as a player. Defender Goncalves insists he never feared his Tynecastle career was over despite the Jambos being willing to offload him to the Bundesliga last season.

His form has been such that he was named in the provisional Portugal squad for this month's World Cup qualifiers against Hungary and Malta, narrowly missing out on the final cut.

"I think it was the best thing to do, to go away and to start again," said the 24 year old.

"But when I came back to Hearts, I was feeling like new and this is very important to me."