Peter Enckelman poised to fill in for Hearts should Jamie MacDonald miss out

By BARRY ANDERSON
Published on 23/11/2012 12:23

HEARTS goalkeeper Peter Enckelman will be called into action against Motherwell tomorrow should Jamie MacDonald miss out through illness.

The club’s first-choice goalkeeper has a stomach bug which has prevented him training this week, although coaching staff were this morning hoping that he would be able to train later today. If MacDonald fails to recover in time for the trip to Fir Park, the veteran Enckelman will deputise with Mark Ridgers only recently returned from a serious knee injury.

Manager John McGlynn stressed today that he has no concerns over the 35-year-old’s match sharpness despite him making only one substitute appearance since joining Hearts in August. That came at Celtic Park last month.

“Peter is a very experienced goalkeeper and he’s had a couple of under-20 games since he went on against Celtic. We don’t have any fears with playing him,” said McGlynn.

“Jamie is the number one so it’s always going to be difficult for whoever is second choice. Jamie has played in virtually every game except when he went off injured at Celtic Park. It’s difficult for any club to keep their number two as active as you need him to be. Peter has played in a few under-20 games, albeit he hasn’t played in the last two. We let Mark Ridgers play in those because he’s coming back from injury.”

McGlynn has not given up on the thought that MacDonald will be available to face Motherwell.

“I spoke to Jamie on Wednesday night and he was okay, he was coming in for training yesterday,” continued the manager. “He’s obviously had a recurrence of the bug during the night, so that’s not great. He would have to do some training before Saturday. If he doesn’t train today he’s going to be struggling.”

Meanwhile, McGlynn has offered to defer his wages for a further month in order to help the club emerge from its financial crisis.

The next batch of salary payments is due to be fulfilled on December 16.

Hearts are committed to paying two months’ salaries after the players agreed to defer their November wages.

However, McGlynn is ready to wait a forther month.

“If necessary, yes,” he said. “But that’s me. I’m not talking about anyone else, just me.”