Calum Elliot regards Jefferies as a cult hero and is desperate to impress him further

THE difficulties faced by Hearts at Tannadice tomorrow do not only centre around the threat posed by their opponents, Dundee United.

Interim manager Peter Houston has helped United capitalise on Hibs' recent erratic form to move into third place in the SPL and will seek to maintain momentum against his former club.

However, Jim Jefferies would be forgiven for completely disregarding the plight of his Tannadice counterpart, for he has enough to contend with. A mounting injury list is compounded by the debate over whether to stick or twist at a venue which is rarely kind to Hearts.

The absence of recognised centre-backs like Marius Zaliukas and Jose Goncalves, plus the subsequent reorganisation, mean it will be difficult to foster defensive solidity.

Playing for a draw, it must be said, is not the Jefferies way. Even if it were, it would be ill-advised given the manager will not decide on who plays in central defence until tomorrow morning, leaving little time for tactical practice.

Tannadice provides arguably the sternest test of Hearts' top-six, perhaps even European, credentials. Should Kilmarnock capitalise on Hibs' inconsistency with a result at Easter Road this afternoon, Hearts would thereby have the opportunity to close to within five points of third-placed United by winning on Tayside.

As recently as three weeks ago a top-six slot appeared the best possible scenario but the rejuvenation brought by three consecutive league victories has effected a mild transformation in fortunes at Tynecastle.

At the same time, mindless attacking tomorrow would play into the hands of the hosts, a team ideally poised to exploit the counter-attack. So Jefferies finds himself in a rather unenviable position, coping with the dilemma of how to deploy his team when he does not yet know the personnel available.

Andy Driver, Ian Black, Scott Robinson, Craig Thomson and Ian Black are all out injured. Larry Kingston and Eggert Jonsson will serve one-game suspensions and Christian Nade is unavailable due to off-field matters.

Should Ismael Bouzid declare himself fit he is expected to partner Lee Wallace in central defence if Dawid Kucharski is ruled out. That would likely mean Jason Thomson at right-back and David Obua deputising at left-back despite the Ugandan emerging as a useful attacking target man in recent weeks. Suso, the Spanish winger, should return to the right side of midfield, with Michael Stewart and Ryan Stevenson in the centre and Arvydas Novikovas wide left.

Jefferies will, unquestionably, ask fit-again Calum Elliot to lead the forward line. The striker has returned from a catalogue of injury problems to play in Hearts' last three matches and help secure wins over Falkirk, Hamilton and Aberdeen. Having occupied the treatment room far more than the dressing room this season, he is merely relieved to have established himself in the team again.

"To be honest, it got to the stage where I came back and made a couple of sub appearances and it flared up so we didn't know if I'd need more surgery," he said. "But thankfully the physio has been brilliant and, hopefully, fingers crossed, has sorted it out and I'm just trying to put it behind me and keep my place in the team.

"You're always worried when you're stuck at home and trying to get to the bottom of it. You wonder if you've done something wrong, but it's just one of those things.

"It's been good to be playing in the last couple of weeks but it's been difficult as well because I've not been training. Hopefully if the weather clears up I'll be able to start training and get sharper and keep my place in the team.

"In an ideal world I would like four or five games to build myself up, but the way the league is just now we don't have those games and you've got to just get up to speed as quickly as you can. I've not been able to train indoors. In the past four weeks I've maybe trained three times, so it's not been ideal. I've just been cycling and walking my dog to exercise.

"It's been difficult but I just have to listen to what the physio says, he knows more than me and he's done a great job to get me back to where I was. I've tried to be patient, even though that's not the way I am, but the physio has done a good job.

"It's difficult to explain how frustrating it's been because you think you're all right and then you're not training and then you're turning up to play having not trained all week."

Elliot admits the persistent knee problems which led to surgery earlier in the season could still cause him various troubles in years to come.

"I don't know if I'll ever be over it because I've had that much of the stuff in my knee taken out. But I've been told if I manage it properly it will be fine," he said.

"You always want to impress a new manager when he comes in, especially one that's got such cult status with the supporters. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll be able to do that. It was good to play 90 minutes (against Aberdeen] and it was frustrating coming off after 60 minutes the week before because I felt as if I had just got started."