Head coach Derek McInnes has confirmed that Oisin McEntee has picked up a thigh injury and will miss the remainder of the season, but added that Harry Milne continues to make progress on his return to action.
The left back hasn't featured since facing Kilmarnock six weeks ago, but could make his return in Sunday's Edinburgh Derby at Easter Road.
Asked for an injury update at the pre-match press conference, McInnes replied:
“Unfortunately, Oisin got bad news on the scan and will be out for the season, which is a real blow for us.
“We had a few days to deal with that and let that sink in, on top of Tomas Magnusson being out. So, we have to deal with that. My focus is on the players who are available, as harsh as that sounds. We try and contend with injuries as you go into this part of the season. So, we have to see where we go.
“Craig Gordon is doing a bit of handling. Although he's not in training yet, he's doing a bit of handling with the rest of the goalkeepers. So he's going the right way.
“Harry Milne is progressing really well. Neither in or out for the weekend. If the weekend comes too soon for him, then hopefully, as I say, he'll be fit for the next game against Rangers. So we'll see how he is but delighted with Harry's progress.
“Christian Borchgrevink, felt his hamstring a wee bit yesterday. So, we're just getting that looked at today. But other than the longer-term ones already, that's where we're at.
“We've dealt with key players being injured before. Both Oisin and Tomas give us real strength. It gives us real reliability, and they give us that real competitive nature, which your team always wants to have. I'm trying to focus on the ones I have available and as harsh as that is, we need to deal with the games without these boys.”
The Jambos returned to Edinburgh following a warm-weather training camp in Spain, with McInnes admitting the camp was everything he’d hoped it would be.
“I think it was exactly what we hoped it would be, to be honest. It was a nice, calm environment. Obviously, we wanted to try and get away for loads of reasons. But we know what's ahead of us. It's a calm before a storm, with all the focus and the spotlight on the season.
“We tried to top up work into some of the lads that we needed, as I said before. The pitches were good, the environment was good, and we came back on Friday and ready to set about this week. It's such an important week for us, an important game.
“I think when you look at the fixtures, each one will be a different task. But every one of them is a really tough game, and I think it will be very competitive.
“I'm just so proud of the players for getting us in this position. Because a lot has been said about how we arrived at this situation, the boardroom support, Jamestown and all the rest of it. But the players have been the biggest driver in all of this to get us to where we are.
“70 points is a great number to get to going into the split. I think it's the first time Hearts have done that at this stage, the quickest we've got to that. The first team outwith Rangers and Celtic to be top, going into the split. The players have done so well to get us here. We just want to try and enjoy it now and finish off the job.”
You can watch Derek’s press conference in full on Hearts TV.
