Larry Kingston tells Hearts boss Laszlo he could miss several weeks with hamstring strain

Published on Wednesday 16 December 2009 10:32

LARRY KINGSTON has informed Hearts that he will be unavailable for up to seven weeks as a result of the hamstring problem which forced him off against Dundee United last weekend.

It is not clear whether the injury threatens his place in Ghana's squad for the African Cup of Nations. The midfielder is due to be named in a 23-man squad for the competition this week and must report to Accra over the weekend of 26 and 27 December. The tournament runs from 10-31 January but Hearts manager Laszlo is content to let the Ghanaian Football Association decide on Kingston's fitness having lost patience with the player.

He was jeered and booed by his own supporters after leaving the field on Saturday. Having used all three substitutes, Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo had to watch his side preserve a 0-0 draw with only ten players after Kingston went off complaining of tight hamstrings. He has now told Laszlo he is not available to face Celtic this weekend.

"I must not make a decision for Sunday," said the manager. "Larry told me yesterday that he will be injured for the next six or seven weeks. I don't know if he will go away with Ghana, this is a decision for Ghana's football federation."

Laszlo was hopeful of seeing Calum Elliot return this weekend but that now looks doubtful after Hearts medical staff referred the striker to a specialist with his recurring knee problem. "I don't think he can play on Sunday. He has gone to see the specialist and we don't have any diagnosis yet," said Laszlo.

On a positive note, Marius Zaliukas has returned to full training but Laszlo remained coy over whether he will feature against Celtic. "Marius has shown a very good fitness level but I would like to see that his ankle is 100 per cent pain-free. He has trained and we can see if everything is okay later in the week."