Ryan Fulton will be sidelined through a groin injury for three to four months and Hearts are now monitoring the market to possibly find a new goalkeeper to add to the squad.
Craig Gordon remains on the long-term injury list with no clear time for a return and so 20-year-old Liam McFarlane, who is 6ft 5in, has been recalled from his loan spell at Alloa who play in League One. He recently signed a new contract until the summer of 2028.
Jamie McCart continued his rehab and Kenneth Vargas (hip strain) is making progress, but Finlay Pollock has suffered a setback with results of tests awaited.
That’s the injury news on the eve of Motherwell’s visit to Tynecastle on Saturday (15.00) as head coach Derek McKinnes aims to put last weekend’s exit from the Premier Sports Cup behind him.
McInnes told the media that the defeat was not burst Heart of Midlothian’s bubble and added: “We’ve moved on.”
He has been impressed with what he has seen of Motherwell under new Danish-born manager, Jens Berthel Askou, but is focused on beating the team nicknamed The Steelmen and then gaining three points when the team faces Livingston at the Home of the Set Fare Arena.
That would maintain the club’s 100 per cent start ahead of the international break.
However, Motherwell midfielder Lukas Fadinger said the Lanarkshire squad are excited by the way Askou wants them to play and they come into the game having progressed to the Premier Sports Cup, quarter-final, by beating St Johnstone 1-0 last weekend, the game-winner coming in extra time. Fadinger was the scorer.
Meanwhile, the Jambos have sold their initial allocation of tickets for the trip to Livingston on Saturday, August 30 (15.00) in the William Hill Premiership.
More are expected to go on sale “in due course”.
Prices are adults £28, over 65 £20, students £20 and under 18 £15 with under-16 £11. Ambulant and wheelchair tickets are £20.
TALK-IN: Derek McInnes on the training ground. Picture Nigel Duncan
