Heart of Midlothian manager Derek McInnes has admitted an “unfortunate” injury setback ahead of his side’s crucial Scottish Premiership clash with Rangers.
Rangers ready to battle in epic title race
Hearts travel to Ibrox on Sunday looking for another win against Rangers, but McInnes’ title-chasing side are plagued by injury problems that threaten their remarkable title bid.
The Tynecastle side are five points clear in the table after Wednesday’s dramatic win over Hibernian in the Edinburgh derby and maintain their incredible momentum with Thomas Magnusson’s 88th-minute strike clinching a valuable three points.
MacInnes’ side are aiming to become the first Scottish champions outside Glasgow since Aberdeen’s victory in 1985, and Hearts’ first since 1960.
Sunday’s game against Ibrox is of great significance, despite McInnes’ insistence that “win, lose or draw doesn’t decide anything.”
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Hearts have already shown they have the quality to trouble Danny Rolle’s side, defeating Rangers 2-0 away at the start of the season and also winning 2-1 at Tynecastle during the Festival.
Ahead of their biggest game yet, McInnes today revealed that Craig Halkett will return from suspension following his red card at St Mirren, while Christian Borchgrevink will return to action after a training session.
As we reported on Thursday and McInnes confirmed, Hearts star Cammy Devlin is targeting a February return, but March is probably more realistic for Kilmarnock on the safe side.
“If you talk to Cammy, she’ll say he’s close. If you talk to the physiotherapist, it’s a little bit different,” McInnes explained to reporters.
“But I think he’s probably going to play against Aberdeen later this month.
“Obviously there’s still two weeks left, so he’ll probably be better suited for the game against Kilmarnock then.”
McInnes also revealed that talismanic striker and captain Lawrence Shankland is also due to return in March, although left-back Stephen Kingsley has unfortunately been sidelined for an even longer period due to a new injury.
Hearts dealt ‘unfortunate’ injury blow after Stephen Kingsley update
Jamaat bosses confirmed to the media that Kingsley has suffered a new calf injury and will be out for a further five weeks.
“It’s a bit of disappointing news. We had a bit of a problem with Stephen Kingsley. He injured his calf,” he said.
“So he’s probably going to be out for another five weeks or so, which is a shame. But other than that, Cammy, Lawrence, Callum Nieuwenhoff and young Finlay Pollock are still out.”
Kingsley, 31, has not played since Hearts lost 3-2 to Hibs in the Edinburgh derby in December, but having previously had a groin problem, Kingsley now has an entirely different problem to recover from.
Kingsley was a mainstay after a strong start to the season, providing defensive solidity and an attacking threat down the left wing before being injured in January.
Due to his long-term absence, McInnes has been forced to rely on stopgap solutions, including a centre-back, to fill the left-back position.
Hearts receive injury boost as ‘top quality’ star aims to return from injury in February
It happened shortly after their valuable Edinburgh derby win.
