Hearts captain Zaliukas to miss two games after red card

MARIUS ZALIUKAS will miss two SPL matches as a result of his Edinburgh derby dismissal after the Scottish Football Association confirmed that he has received an additional one-match ban.

The Hearts captain is automatically suspended for this Saturday's encounter with Motherwell at Tynecastle and is also ruled out of the first post-split fixture, which has yet to be determined.

Zaliukas was issued a straight red card by referee Iain Brines after 33 minutes of Sunday's derby for impeding Hibs' Akpo Sodje and denying the striker a clear goalscoring opportunity in the process. Having already been cautioned five times this season, the ordering-off pushed him through the SFA's 18-point disciplinary threshold and triggered the extra one-game ban.

The Lithuanian misses the Motherwell match but is then available for Hearts' visit to Inverness on Saturday, April 19. The additional ban takes effect the following day.

Meanwhile, Hearts climbed to the top of the Clydesdale Bank Under-19 league at the weekend with a convincing 4-1 victory over Rangers at Murray Park. Denis Prychynenko and Jason Holt both scored twice after Rangers took an early lead through Dylan McGeouch. Prychynenko, an imposing Ukrainian midfielder, has now scored 14 goals at youth level this season and is expected to make a first-team breakthrough in the near future.

Hearts sit one point clear of Rangers at the top of the Under-19 table, although the Glasgow club have one game in hand. Celtic, four points behind Hearts, have played three games less than the Edinburgh side.