Derek McInnes, Hearts’ head coach, is keen to probe why a number of his squad have been hit by hamstring injuries this season.
Midfielders Beni Baningime (Democratic Republic of Congo), Calem Nieuwenhof from Australia and Brazil-born Eduardo Ageu plus home-bred Finlay Pollock have all been sidelined.
The former Aberdeen and Kilmarnock boss (pictured at training by Nigel Duncan) said: “It would be wrong for us not to look at this a lot more.”
The injuries are in different areas of the body, but the issue is a concern for coaches of the William Hill Premiership pace-setters.
On the positive side, skipper Lawrence Shankland, who tweaked a calf in training and missed Sunday’s defeat at Aberdeen, should be back in the squad for the clash at in-form Motherwell on Saturday (15.00).
The Fir Park side have climbed to fourth spot in the table and have 21 points from 13 games following their 2-o victory over Hibs in Lanarkshire on Tuesday night, Maswanhise and Just netting. Hearts are on 30 points from 13 starts and second-placed Celtic have 26 points but from a game less.
Defender Stuart Findlay will have medication and an injection and will hopefully be available for selection after suffering an ankle problem at Pittodrie.
Looking back at the defeat, McInnes felt that Hearts were the better team in the Granite City but added: “We only have ourselves to blame for the defeat.”
It was their first of the league season and he revealed that the squad have assessed what went wrong.
He added: “When you lose a game of football it is not nice, but the response will be there.”
