Robbie Neilson has played down Craig Halkett’s chances of being fit to face FC Zurich.
The defender was forced off after just six minutes of Hearts' Europa League playoff round first leg in St Gallen last week. The Jambos took the lead through Lawrence Shankland’s penalty, but conceded two quickfire goals to Adrian Guerrero and Blerim Dzemalli to leave them with a one-goal deficit to overcome in Thursday’s second leg at Tynecastle.
Neilson rang the changes for Sunday’s trip to face Celtic. Ross Stewart replaced captain Craig Gordon in goals while the likes of Josh Ginnelly, Gary Mackay-Steven and Toby Sibbick were handed rare starts. Sibbick was sent off in stoppage for a second yellow card joining teammate Alex Cochrane in the dressing room after his earlier dismissal. The big guns will come back in to face the Swiss champions in midweek. However, Halkett is unlikely to win his race after straining his hamstring in St Gallen.
Neilson said: “The recruitment at the start of the season was to get quality into the group - it’s not a big group - and also to give the young ones an opportunity to come through.
“Yes there were changes but you saw that we matched the champions for long periods of the game. It wasn’t until we got a man sent off that they really started to come away from us. I was pleased with the players that came in. We don't have a big squad but we've got real quality and depth.
"I thought he [Stewart] was great. Craig was out today and it gave him the opportunity to come to a big venue and play and I thought he handled himself very well. Everyone will be ready. The only one potentially that won't make it will be Craig Halkett."
Neilson hailed the quality within his squad, but admitted he still wants a couple of new additions before the transfer window closes. Korean forward Lee Seung-woo has been heavily linked.
But the performance in Glasgow has given him confidence that they can perform to a high level no matter who is available for selection. Neilson told Hearts TV: “I know I’ve got a good squad here. We still need to add one or two faces to it just to give us that extra bit of quality again.
“But you saw with the changes we made, the guys that came in did exceptionally well. We’ve got a good group. Somebody goes out, somebody comes in and we’ll still play at the same level.
“We’ll analyse this [Celtic game} but our main focus now is Thursday night. It’s a massive game for everyone and the place will be rocking. It’s a chance to get into the Europa League and we’re looking forward to it.”
READ NEXT
