Christian Nade has vowed to score his first goal of the season if he starts against Falkirk on Saturday after blocking out the "personal problems" which have blighted his campaign.

Nade, 25, has not started a game since August, with manager Csaba Laszlo fearing for the French forward's mental wellbeing, as well as being concerned about his fitness.

Nade has revealed ongoing personal issues meant he has been unable to focus on football but he insists he is now ready to give his all for the Hearts cause.

Reluctant to elaborate on his off-field problems, Nade said: "A lot of things happened around my life; people tried to get in my life and tried to get away from my life.

"It was more difficult to play football.

"Even on the pitch in training, I was thinking only about this.

"The coach saw this and he told me, 'You're not Christian; your head is not on football just now, so just take your time'."

He added: "It was better for me to try to concentrate on football, go in the reserve team, try to score some goals, and come back fit for the first team."

Nade's mental state would not have been helped last week when he was fined £220 and given six penalty points after pleading guilty to driving with an expired licence and without insurance.

The striker has been used sparingly on the field in the last two months, making substitute appearances against Kilmarnock, St Mirren and - last weekend - at Aberdeen.

He is now itching to start Saturday's Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League game against Falkirk and made a bold prediction if he is given his big chance.

"I'm going to score, definitely," said Nade, who has failed to find the net since February and has notched just eight goals since joining Hearts more than two years ago.

He added: "I want to enter the team, come back in the right way and win some games.

"If winning some games means I need to score, I'm very happy to score."

As well as his personal problems, Nade has struggled with his fitness since injuring himself in pre-season.

He admitted: "I didn't work enough in pre-season to come back for the first game. Maybe this is my mistake.

"Game after game, I was down, really down, and now I'm just trying to come back up."

Laszlo has stressed the need for Hearts to unearth a striker who can score up to 20 goals a season.

Nade agreed but also pointed out the club have only kept two clean sheets in 11 games in all competitions this term.

He added: "To win, you must think, 'I have to protect my keeper', and afterwards think about winning the game."

With rock-bottom Falkirk still looking for their first SPL win under Eddie May, Hearts have been tipped to kick-start their own stuttering season with a comfortable three points.

Nade said: "There is pressure for both teams because I think Falkirk maybe shouldn't be bottom of the league.

"Maybe Hearts shouldn't be eighth.

"So, if we lose at home, it's going to be a very disappointing game; if they lose, it's going to be hard for them to come back."

As for his personal problems, he added: "I think this problem is going to be until the end of the season.

"I have to forget about this and just think about football."