The 5 returning Hearts stars Beni Baningime reckons will take Jambos up a gear as he opens up on injury hell

Beni Baningime spent the majority of last season in a Hearts team that would have been among the favourites to lift any 5-a-side title across Scotland.

The only problem was that quintet of Jam Tarts were holed up in the treatment room rather than on the pitch as the Tynecastle club lost their grip on third place. Baningime, Liam Boyce, Craig Halkett, skipper Craig Gordon and Gary Mackay-Steven were never to be seen after Christmas with the former Everton playmaker himself not having kicked a competitive football since March 2022 after suffering a devastating ACL tear in his first season at Tynecastle.

One by one the Jambo crocks are returning though with Baningime and Boyce back in full training ahead of the squad flying out to Marbella for their warm weather pre-season boot camp today. And with Halkett not too far behind, the Congolese playmaker reckons the Jambos will soon be back in good shape to not only put the turmoil of the last few months behind them. But to prove that they really are the third force in Scotland.

Aberdeen may have won the the £5m Euro group stage golden ticket by finishing best of the rest behind the Old Firm as Hearts’ form went off the edge of a cliff in March and April. And the Dons have moved quickly to strengthen with five additions in the summer transfer window as opposed to Hearts who have yet to secure a single signing.

But Baningime reckons the Jambos will still be in a stronger position once the crocks return - with a hunger to make up for lost time fuelling his own ambitions under new bosses Frankie McAvoy and Steven Naismith assisted by Gordon Forrest.

He said: “That five with me, Boycey, Skip, Halks and Gary Mackay-Steven is a crazy team! A few seasons ago that was a group of