Jefferies to give Driver run-out in East Fife friendly

HEARTS manager Jim Jefferies will use today's friendly at East Fife as a chance to give game time to players who have either been on the fringes of the first team or are just returning from injury.

Andrew Driver is included in the latter category, having made his comeback last weekend, while Craig Thomson, Jason Thomson, Gary Glen, Dawid Kucharski and Ryan Stevenson will also be involved.

"We'll use the match to give a few of the boys who need game time a run-out, while some of the younger ones will also be involved," Jefferies said on the club's website, heartsfc.co.uk. "With no fixture this weekend, this is a good opportunity to give a game to a few of the players who maybe haven't been playing as often as they would like."

Hearts are idle this weekend after being knocked out of the Scottish Cup in the last round by St Johnstone, against whom they got a measure of revenge by winning in the SPL last week. Their next game is a week today at Hamilton.

New signing Andy Webster will not take part in today's match against East Fife, which kicks off at 2pm. Jefferies will continue to assess the central defender's fitness before deciding whether to include him in the squad next weekend.

Hibernian, knocked out of the cup by Ayr last month, have been given the weekend off by manager Colin Calderwood after recording their first win of the year in midweek against St Mirren."I think they well deserve the rest and recovery," Calderwood said.