Robbie Neilson has confirmed Craig Gordon WILL be part of Hearts Edinburgh derby build-up.
The Jambos and Scotland No1 suffered a horrible leg break in the Christmas Eve clash with Dundee United and will now miss the rest of the campaign. He is now resting up as the recovery process from the injury begins with Zander Clark taking over between the sticks. The Tynecastle club started life without their skipper with a 3-2 win over St Johnstone in Perth to hand them a confidence booster ahead of facing Hibs.
Gordon will be with his Hearts team-mates on Sunday ahead of the derby to show his support and be part of things in what boss Neilson says shows the exact type of character his veteran goalkeeper is. Lawrence Shankland will wear the armband for the rest of the season after being handed it in the Perth thriller.
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He told BBC Sportsound: "We've been speaking to him a lot, I went to see him after the game and I was up on Boxing Day to see him. He's obviously very disappointed with what happened but he's talking about timelines and coming back.
"We're delighted with the care he got up at Ninewells. He's now back home and it'll take a week or two to get him back on his feet. He'll be with us on Sunday, he wants to be in training before the derby because he still wants to be part of it. It shows you his character."
On the Shankland captaincy decision, he added: “Lawrence is a leader within the group. I think there is an opportunity with him to develop further.
"Craig Gordon will remain the club captain but we need an on-field captain, day-to-day and on the pitch and that will be Lawrence. I spoke to a few of the senior players and he was the main candidate for us.
“I’m really pleased with him. I think you could see it improving his game with that leadership. The main thing for me is there is development there within him. I can see him becoming a really good on-pitch captain.
"He will stay as the captain [when Halkett is back from injury]. He's got the attributes, he'll play every week, top goalscorer. He's got a bit about him as well.”
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