'You never know' - Hearts boss speak on signing before Livingston clash and addresses Toby Sibbick bid

Hearts boss Robbie Neilson is hoping to bring in “at least one” of his targets before the end of the transfer window as he addressed the interest in defender Toby Sibbick.

English Championship side Blackpool tabled a six-figure bid for Sibbick following the 3-0 win over Hibs in the Scottish Cup fourth round clash at Easter Road. The centre-back put in a starring role, scoring the third with a lung-busting full-pitch run. He has emerged as a key player in the team’s defence.

"First and foremost he is a very, very important player to us,” Neilson told Sky Sports.” Any player we have at this football club that is at Toby's level is of value. That value didn't get matched and I hope he stays until at least the end of the season because we need him.

"The whole process is about building a team. There is no point bringing people in the summer and six months later flipping them for money that we don’t believe is value. We’re building a team around key players and at the moment Toby is one of those key players.”

Meanwhile, Neilson is hoping to sign another of his targets before the end of the January transfer window. Hearts have already added James Hill and Garang Kuol on loan and signed Yutaro Oda.

“We’re working on that at the moment,” he said. “We’ve got a couple of targets and are still pushing to try and get at least one of them in.”

When asked if a signing could arrive before Sunday's match with Livingston, he added: “You never know in football, I’d like to but I’m not too sure.”