Gary Glen knows he will have to strike as soon as he is granted his opportunity by Hearts manager Jim Jefferies.
The 20-year-old striker is yet to feature for the first team this term, with the substitutes' bench the closest he has come to the action due to the form of Kevin Kyle, Calum Elliot and Stephen Elliott.
"The one thing you want to do is play, but the boys have been doing really well and the strikers have been scoring. It's hard just now, I've just got to be patient and bide my time. The gaffer has taken me aside before. I understand the situation," said Glen.
"He has brought Kevin in, he's brought Stephen in. He's giving them their chance and they're doing well so I've just got to be patient just now and I know that if I do get my chance I've got to grab it and I need to perform."
Hearts have won three straight games - defeating Hibernian, Celtic and St Johnstone - and lie third in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League ahead of Saturday's meeting with bottom club Hamilton at Tynecastle.
Jefferies' side have scored six times without conceding in the winning run, with Kyle, Elliott and Elliot all playing their role in the victories following a 3-0 reverse to Kilmarnock last month.
Despite being on the margins of the first team, Glen is happy at Tynecastle and believes he is learning from Scotland international Kyle and Republic of Ireland frontman Elliott.
"At this moment I would really like to stay here," added Glen, who made his Hearts debut five days before his 17th birthday. "I believe this is where I should be playing football and given my chance I'll take it. It's good bringing in new strikers and you get more competition. You play alongside them in training and you watch them playing.
"It's different with Kevin Kyle, because he's a big player and gets loads of headers, but Stephen Elliott and Calum Elliot play the same kind of game as me.
"Stephen Elliott's movement is different class. To see that in training has really helped me. Just now they're doing really well and if they keep doing what they're doing there's a great chance we will be right near the top come the end of the season."
Source: PA
