Hearts boss ready to unleash Skacel on St Mirren

The Hearts midfielder had an Achilles injury and agreed with his manager that it would be better for him to feature at Tynecastle tomorrow rather than risk aggravating the problem at Tannadice.

Last time St Mirren travelled to Gorgie was in October when Skacel struck a phenomenal hat-trick in a 3-0 Hearts victory. Jefferies acknowledged that the Czech generally reserves his best form for home fixtures and is hopeful that will be the case tomorrow.

"The worry was that if Rudi played on Wednesday he could put himself out of Saturday and maybe another game or so," said the manager. "With the international break coming up I thought it was better to have him at home where he's been a big threat to teams, especially as he got a hat-trick against St Mirren last time they came here.

"We both agreed it was better to have him on the bench. If he started the game it might have put him out of Saturday. It was a precaution."

Skacel's craft and goal threat were missed at Tannadice in midweek and, fitness permitting, he could be in contention to start tomorrow.

Ruben Palazuelos is definitely available after completing a suspension and is expected to return to midfield, possibly in place of Adrian Mrowiec. Winger Andy Driver is also in contention to start only his second match in the last 12 months.

Meanwhile, Hearts will have four players on international duty next week when Marian Kello, Marius Zaliukas, Eggert Jonsson and Ismael Bouzid depart to represent their respective countries.

Kello could make a competitive debut for Slovakia after being named by national coach Vladimir Weiss in the squad to face Andorra in a European Championship qualifier and the friendly with Denmark. He appeared for his country for the first time last month against Luxembourg in a friendly. Zaliukas is certain to feature in Lithuania's matches against Poland and Spain, Jonsson could be involved at either full or under-21 level for Iceland and Bouzid is in Algeria's squad to face Morocco.

Surprisingly, Lee Wallace has been omitted from the Scotland squad to face Brazil in the glamour friendly at the Emirates Stadium.