Robbie Neilson is hopeful Hearts top scorer Liam Boyce will overcome an injury scare in time to face Rangers in the Scottish Cup Final.
The Tynecastle boss could be facing the prospect of losing his top marksman for next Saturday's Hampden showdown after the striker limped off in yesterday's defeat to Rangers.
There were immediate fears the Northern Irishman would be sidelined for the end of season showpiece but Neilson revealed a tight groin leaves his player with a fighting chance of being available at the National Stadium in six days time.
The Hearts boss said: “It was just a tight groin. He thinks it’s just a tightness. That’s all it is. As soon as there was any issue we just got him off. There’s no point in taking any risks.
"Ellis Simms was a wee bit tight, Peter Haring was a wee bit tight, just getting them wee knocks. Hopefully those two will be fine, Liam will just be dependent on the next day or two if it is just a tightness.”
Neilson is also adamant the 3-1 loss to their cup final opponents will leave no lasting scar ahead of their Hampden meeting, despite the Jambos being near full strength against a Light Blues side consisting of fringe players and second string academy kids, and was happy to give John Souttar and Craig Halkett returns off the bench.
He said: “It was great to get them back on. You can see that rustiness there. But it was brilliant to have them there and you can see the level coming up when they come on. It’s just about that fitness now, can we get them there for the final.
“I thought it was one of those games with an end-of-season feel about it. Rangers made loads of changes, we made a lot of changes as well.
"There was no real intensity to the game to be honest with you. That was the disappointment for us. Yes, we’re trying to get guys as fit as we can get them for next week but there are two sides of it. There’s disappointment about the performance but also we kind of expected it a little bit with the rustiness of some of them coming back into the game.
“When you play for Hearts and you’re playing one of the Old Firm at Tynecastle you need to be up for it. There were periods of the game when we weren’t aggressive enough. We didn’t get the press on and allowed them to play through. Potentially because we made a number of changes – putting guys in who hadn’t played together – you get that sometimes.
“I don’t think it matters too much (that Rangers won ahead of the cup final). They made 10 changes and we made six. So that’s only six players who played in the game who would play next week. It’s about coming back on Monday and getting ourselves on it so we’re ready for Saturday.”
