Fitness boost for Hearts’ cup clash
Andy Driver
STEPHEN ELLIOTT, Mehdi Taouil and Andy Driver are fit and available for Hearts’ Scottish Cup tie with St Johnstone this weekend, while Danny Grainger also has a chance of facing his former club.
Striker Elliott is expected to start after overcoming a hamstring strain, the same problem which sidelined Taouil recently. Driver has recovered from a thigh problem and Grainger’s groin injury is improving. If the full-back fails to play on Sunday, he should be available when Celtic visit Tynecastle on league business on Wednesday.
The recovery of Elliott will be crucial for Hearts manager Paulo Sergio since John Sutton’s loan move to Central Coast Mariners leaves the Portuguese short on attacking options.
The Irishman was withdrawn 19 minutes into the 1-0 defeat at Inverness two weeks ago with a strained hamstring. With Hearts inactive last weekend, he had sufficient time to recover and has trained this week with the rest of the first-team squad.
Speaking to the Evening News today, he declared himself fit. “I had a slight hamstring strain, but it was a precaution me coming off against Inverness,” he said.
“I’d felt it in the previous few weeks and I felt it again early in the Inverness game. It wasn’t getting any easier so I decided to come off to make sure it didn’t get any worse. I’ve trained this week and it’s feeling okay. Touch wood, I’m ready to go this weekend.”
Meanwhile, Sergio said he is relieved that the transfer window in Europe has closed – but he is still wary that clubs from further afield could move for his players. He said: “I am happy the window is closed in Europe but there are still things moving in Russia and China and other countries.
“I told my players that anyone who wants to move should do a very good job for the team and things will happen naturally.”
Sergio says the exit of former academy pair Conrad Balatoni and Rob Ogleby earlier this week will mean opportunities for more young talent to progress towards the first-team. “I wish them all the best,” he said. “They have stayed a few years at Hearts and I believe they didn’t improve enough to be first-team players. We have to open spaces to other ones.”
The Hearts manager, whose side haven’t had a game for a fortnight, are fresh for Sunday’s revenge mission against a St Johnstone side who have beaten them twice already this term.
Sergio said: “We took some rest and started our work for the next game, a tough cup game. St Johnstone are a good team and they are doing very well.
“They beat us twice this season, so I believe it’s time that we have to show our pride and our quality in this game to go on in this competition. The Hearts supporters will play an important role this weekend. They have been fantastic with us since the beginning of the season.”
n Tickets are available for Sunday’s Scottish Cup tie against St Johnstone from Hearts’ Clubstore, online at heartsfc.co.uk or by calling 0871 663 1874 and cost £20 for Adults, £15 for over 65s/students, £10 for under-18s and £5 for under-12s when bought before match day. Fans who order tickets on the day of the game will have to pay £20 per person.
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Comments
There are 28 comments to this article
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Tightfisted
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 10:49 AM#18 DUNCAN D'ORDERLY Excellent post Sir...........but remember this is jambozos that are polluting this thread, so you are likely to have to KEEP telling them the significance of this story, which will sail over the heads of most of them, while the others simply recite the mantra of "BIG CLUB, GLORIOUS HISTORY...BIG CLUB, GLORIOUS HISTORY etc" in an endless incantation devoid of any even loose connection to the reality of the info' on your post !! Whoever said that being a missionary to the severely impaired was ever gonna be easy,.......Eh Moochacho???
Tightfisted
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 10:43 AM#19 MENO ....and you STILL can't silence us. .............nor can you say that any of our points about the paucity of success for your "glorious" (TEE HEE HEE !!) these last 100years and more aren't absolutely accurate. Would you like us to talk you through your long list of abject failure and mediocrity all over again.It's nice to see these facts on a Jambozo thread....it tends to compensate just a little for the "big club" dross that the morons drone on about,......Eh Compadre??
The Yak Farmer
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 12:02 AMlook @ 18 - EVEN THE PLANKS ARE BEGINNING TO SOUND LIKE TOMMY TOMMY ! WAS THE MAN RIGHT ALL ALONG ? WATCH THIS SPACE!
Baldrick
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 09:50 PM24* Disgree on all fronts. A morale boosting 9-0 win is the best result for Hearts. In the next round, a 4-4 draw against Celtic at Tynie followed by a 6-0 win to the mighty Jambos at Parkheid. That would be a great result. Far better than a draw against Killie. What were you thinking of?
First Green
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 09:10 PMNoone else read Sergio`s comments about Russia and China meaning "come and get our players, we`re desperate for cash and can`t wait till summer". don`t know if Driver etc fancy China but I bet Hearts are desperate to see them go. As for cuptie, a draw is best result for Hearts-start selling replay tickets and ask Sky for another sub and they`ll be able to pay on time this month.
busbyfth
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 05:43 PM# Well done Duncan - good heads-up.
Jimmy Galwe
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 05:24 PM'this'. I am advised therthis is not a word.
Jimmy Galwe
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 05:23 PM#18 Thanks for the warning. I suspect therthis will provoke a violent outbreak of Tommy-itis after a quiet spell.
what a chancer
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 05:15 PMto all hibbies hea rts we are still here,some fire sale could`nt even pump a few over the fence to the other half to expensive.
Meno
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 05:01 PMTightlyfisted......The only sad thing, I'd say, is you. Logging on every day to Hearts comments, for at least the last 5 years, changing names in the hope you fly under the radar.... Am I right Moochacho??? I shouldn't pity you but I do....TEE HEE!
Duncan D' Orderly
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 03:44 PMSorry to repeat myself, but it is news and it is relevent, This will be all over this paper like a rash tomorrow so read it first from a Hearts Fan. And on the bright side, he's aving more money for his true love . Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov told RIA Novosti on Friday that his club in Belarus have been excluded from the Top League because the oligarch refused to keep bankrolling the team. Romanov put Hearts up for sale in November along with Belarus' Partizan Minsk and Lithuanian side FK Kaunas, saying he wanted to leave the football business and buy a theater. “They threw [Partizan] out, of course, because of the lack of money," Romanov told RIA Novosti. "I don’t intend to keep financing the club. I put 20 million litas ($7.6 million) into it. That’s enough." Formerly known as MTZ-Ripo, Partizan won two Belarusian Cup titles, in 2005 and 2008, and was sometimes used by Romanov as a feeder club for Hearts. Romanov said Minsk Mayor Nikolai Ladutenko, whose City Hall has 25 percent stake in the club after investing $5.3 million, could step in to save the side. "There’s a government, let them try without me,” he said. The federation excluded Partizan on Friday, reducing the Top League to 11 teams, after the club failed to make the licensing deadline Tuesday. Partizan chief executive Lyudas Rumbutis told Belarusian website Pressbol earlier this week that their efforts to sell the club had been in vain. “There was hope for the Russian company Gazprom, but that collapsed. The Minsk city council tried to help us, but that didn’t work out either.” Rumbutis said that Partizan could only continue as an amateur side.
Tightfisted
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 03:26 PM#7 TAIGE NA CROICH "Scottish Cup Win Once Every Twelve Years".....TEE HEE HEE !! You should be so lucky pal............fact is that HMFC has won the SC THREE times in the last 100 years , which, while it's better than the Hibees (wonder of wonders!!) is a bit more like a SC win every FIFTY years.......................so TWELVE is WAY, WAY above your pay grade Jambozos........and the REST of your "glorious" history is just as mediocre (and that's us being kind to you). What a fabulous record for the club that constantly drones on about being a "BIG" club...............it's laughable really .
busbyfth
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 02:51 PM# 12 You are correct - they did..........that was until our team and tactics~formation were overhauled a couple of months ago.........Vlad should refuse to pay the players again as our worst result for months was at Inverness - When they were bloody well paid on time......keep them hungry and make them work for their wages (OK - just joking)
Pedantic
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 02:50 PM14, wow, this paper is a bit touchy. Only pointed out that they have this article under "League Cup" (see below the date) when it's actually the Scottish Cup we're playing in.
Pedantic
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 02:48 PMPending Moderation
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