Toby Sibbick Hearts injury update issued as Robbie Neilson explains decisions with Rangers in mind

Hearts manager Robbie Neilson expects defender Toby Sibbick to be fit for the Scottish Cup final against Rangers on May 21 despite having to be stretchered off with a knee injury in the 2-1 defeat by Motherwell.

Hearts defender Toby Sibbick screams in pain during the match against Motherwell.

The centre-half was left clutching his knee in agony on the Fir Park turf after a clash with Kevin van Veen and there were concerns that he would be a major doubt for the Hampden showpiece. However, Neilson explained that the situation does not appear as bad as first feared.

“It looked at the time as if he was in a lot of pain and we were a bit concerned, but it seems to be just a bit of nerve damage that he’ll hopefully get over quickly,” said Neilson. “The doc doesn’t think it’s too bad and he should be OK for the cup final.

Neilson admitted that the result in Lanarkshire did not perturb him, saying it was more important to rest key players such as Barrie McKay and Craig Gordon and get game-time into the returning Michael Smith.

"We probably had enough chances to win it in the first half, but it got scrappy after that and we got done by a set piece, which is always a danger here,” continued Neilson.

“But I’m not really bothered, to be honest. Obviously we wanted to come here and win, but it was far more important that we got Cammy Devlin back, we got Michael Smith back, we got game time for the likes of Ben Woodburn and Ross Stewart.

“We wanted Andy Halliday to get 55-60 minutes then come off, which was how it worked out.

“Plus, we got to rest the likes of Craig Gordon and Barrie McKay – we’ve got big games coming up and and this one was always going to be physical, so sometimes you just have to make a decision.”