Hearts dealt major Lawrence Shankland injury blow amid Rogers Mata transfer update

Hearts have been dealt another major injury blow after learning the extent of Lawrence Shankland's hamstring injury.

The Tynecastle skipper was forced off during the first half of extra-time in the penalty shoot-out defeat to Falkirk in the Scottish Cup on Saturday.

The 30-year-old limped off the pitch in the 96th minute at the end of a week that saw Hearts reduced to 10 men twice in the space of four days in the Scottish Premiership victories over Dundee and St Mirren.

Lawrence Shankland comes off injured during Hearts' defeat by Falkirk. | SNS Group

And scans have confirmed that Shankland, who is the league's top scorer so far this season with 11 goals, will miss between six and eight week in a significant setback to the Hearts’ title aspirations.

The league leaders are currently six points ahead of both Celtic and Rangers as they bid to become the first non-Old Firm side to win the title since Aberdeen in 1985.

Shankland will now miss the top of the table clash with Celtic at Tynecastle this weekend as well as the Edinburgh derby against Hibs on February 10 and the trip to Ibrox on February 15.

If the recovery timeline proves accurate, the striker would be expected to miss at least seven Premiership matches with the trip to Kilmarnock on March 14 the earliest likely return date.

The news of Shankland's injury comes just days after key midfielder Cammy Devlin was ruled out for up to eight weeks with an ankle injury. The Australian's absence is exacerbated by fellow midfielder Beni Baningime’s two-match league ban, which means Hearts will be without their first-choice central midfielders, as well as their main striker, for their two remaining league games in January against Celtic and Dundee United.

Hearts have also lost defender Stephen Kingsley for six weeks due to a groin injury and are also missing midfielder Oisin McEntee, who isn’t slated to return until next month, while Calem Nieuwenhof and Ageu also remain on the sidelines.

The injury situation could force head coach Derek McInnes back into the transfer market. Hearts have already signed two players in the January window - right-back Jordi Altena and winger Islam Chesnokov - while forward Rogers Mato is also set to join this month on a permanent transfer after an agreement was reached with his current club FK Vardar.

Hearts target Rogers Mato scores for Uganda against Nigeria during the African Cup of Nations. (Photo by Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images

Mato, 22, signed a pre-contract to join for Hearts this summer when his contract with the North Macedonian side expires after the Tynecastle club had an initial £300,000 approach rejected earlier in the window.

However, the two clubs have now agreed a fee that will see the Ugandan international head to Edinburgh as soon as possible, with Hearts officials now going through the paperwork process for his immigration.

Hearts and Mato agreed terms for a pre-contract earlier this month, much to Vardar’s anger, and they then tried to sell the player to MLS side Sporting Kansas City. That created both confusion and controversy, and Mato has been determined to move to Scotland since. He will now get his wish once a working visa is finalised.

Hearts have also been credited with an interest in Forest Green midfielder and captain Laurent Mendy as they bid to fill the void left by Devlin’s injury ahead of Sunday’s match against Celtic.