Hearts boss holds talks with Larry Kingston to get him back to his best

And he has urged the fans who booed Kingston on his last appearance in a maroon jersey to start a clean slate with the player under his managership.

Kingston hasn't played since a hamstring problem forced him to go off in the 0-0 draw with Dundee United at Tynecastle in the middle of December.

He left Hearts with only 10 players on the pitch that day after they'd used all three substitutes and was jeered and booed by his own supporters. That frustration probably stemmed from the fact that, earlier in the season, it was claimed Kingston had reported for international duty despite being ruled unfit by Hearts.

As it turned out, the 29-year-old was left out of the Ghana squad for the recent African Cup of Nations due to his injury and might have found it difficult to force his way back into the picture at Hearts under Csaba Laszlo.

However, Jefferies has already had face-to-face talks with Kingston and hopes the Hearts fans will forgive and forget once he's fit and playing again .

"I've had a word with Larry, who's a lovely lad, and he has explained his thoughts to me," said Jefferies. "He was tarnished for going away to play for Ghana when he was injured but he said that wasn't the case. I had heard things on the grapevine myself and he's a wee bit down because he felt things were done against him that weren't right.

"I've said to him that is all water under the bridge and, let me tell you, I've seen Larry Kingston at the top of his game and a lot of fans were raving about him.

"One of the reasons I was brought back here is that I tend to get the best out of players and a lot of Hearts fans will be over the moon if I can get Larry back playing for the club. He has the talent to play for Hearts and the fans were quite right given the information that was put out about him but he denies that.

"We are going to try and get him right. He'll be told in no uncertain times that he's not just here to waste people's time.

"He loves it here and, if I can get him back playing with a bit of heart and showing a bit of will, allied to the talent he's got, the fans will be delighted."

Meanwhile, Csaba Laszlo, who was sacked as Hearts boss just hours before Jefferies' appointment, is set to sue the club for 100,000, it was reported this morning. He had five months left on his contract and is said to be considering action for unfair dismissal.

Defender Ismael Bouzid is set to miss the trip to Celtic next week and the visits of Falkirk and Hamilton after injuring his hamstring in the 1-0 Co-operative Insurance Cup semi-final defeat against St Mirren.

THE derby at Tynecastle on Saturday, 20 March has been moved forward for TV. The game will now kick off at 12.15pm and will be shown live on Sky Sports.