Hearts head coach Derek McInnes says Islam Chesnokov is being put through a "mini pre-season" to get him up to speed.
The Kazakhstan winger arrived in Edinburgh earlier this month having not played a competitive match since representing his country in mid-November.
The 26-year-old has featured three times as a substitute but was not included in the squad for Sunday's 2-2 draw against Celtic.
"Islam is someone we've waited a long time for," McInnes said.
"We probably underestimated him being able to pick up the speed of the game and the fitness of where he was at after maybe six or seven weeks without training.
"We've made a concerted effort with him and he decision was made that we would put him through a little mini pre-season for the next two weeks.
"He's been doing extra training just to try and get him able to cope with the speed of the game because obviously it's different from Kazakhstan.
"When everybody's starting from the same moment, then it's easier to find your fitness. But he's coming into a team who are more than halfway through the season.
"With the intensity of the Scottish game, we've got to be understanding that maybe (he needs) more training, more awareness of what's required.
"But we feel that he could get the benefit of these last two weeks. We're working him hard and he's eager to play his part. We're delighted that we've got him because we see his quality in training and we just want him to be as fit as he can be to demonstrate that."
