Hearts have been left sweating the fitness of Lewis Neilson after he limped off in the first-half of Scotland Under-21s ' win over Northern Ireland.
The Jambos haven't had their defensive injury troubles to seek this season with Craig Halkett and Kye Rowles both missing their win over Motherwell before the international break. Stephen Kingsley, who filled in at centre-back managed to finish the game despite taking a knock but Alex Cochrane was forced off in the second half.
Neilson impressed in that one as he completed 90 minutes for the third game on the spin after joining from Dundee United in the summer. But he went down in the first-half as Scot Gemmill's team cruised to a 3-1 win and had to be replaced by former Celtic kid Ben Doak, who went on to net a debut goal. Fulham kid Kieron Bowie and Dundee's Josh Mulligan were the other scorers on a comfortable afternoon.
Speaking on injuries to Kingsley and Cochrane, Hearts boss Robbie Neilson had been optimistic after the Motherwell win. He said: “They’re all contact injuries, none of them are muscular. Craig (Gordon) landed on his knee a wee bit, Stephen (Kingsley) got a kick to his knee, (Alex) Cochrane took a blow to his hip but they should all be fine."
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