Robbie Neilson believes the World Cup break will allow him to boost Hearts to the brink of full health.
The Jambos are out of the Europa Conference League after a 3-1 defeat to Istanbul Basaksehir on Group A's sixth matchday but the scoreline doesn't tell the full picture of a game Neilson's men made a fist of. Attentions now turn to domestic duties and finishing third again, but they have not been helped by a raft of injury problems.
Craig Halkett and Kye Rowles are in the mix to be around the squad against Motherwell this Sunday but others like Liam Boyce, Beni Baningime, Stephen Kingsley, Stephen Humphrys, Cammy Devlin and Peter Haring have suffered injuries big and small this campaign. With three games to go before stars jet out to Qatar, the Hearts boss hopes it is a time for his men to take stock of their wounds.
Neilson told BBC Sportsound: "It's been a while since we came out of a game without any injuries and we would expect one or two back for Sunday.
"I am sure if we can get through these three games and get the World Cup break, we should have 95% of the squad ready to kick on."
It was a tough shift against the Turkish side but Neilson was pleased with how his men handled the occasion: "It was always going to be difficult coming here.
"They beat Fiorentina 3-0 here. We lost a poor goal right at the start which rocked us a bit but we got some stability. It's been a good learning curve. We have picked up six points and now it's about can we get ourselves back here next year."
