Robbie Neilson has delivered an injury update ahead of Hearts' Scottish Cup clash with Hamilton Accies on Friday night.
The Jambos are on the road as they battle it out with the Scottish Championship strugglers with a spot in the quarter-finals of the competition up for grabs. The Tynecastle outfit head into the showdown on the back of a 3-1 win over Dundee United at the weekend. Lawrence Shankland started the comeback - but he is suspended for this tie after his sending-off in the derby triumph over Hibs in the previous round. A decision is yet to be made on a stand-in skipper for the tie with a 'few candidates' in contention.
The good news for Hearts comes in the shape of Kye Rowles, Cammy Devlin and Michael Smith. The key defender has a small problem with his toe but the club are managing it and he is fine while his two team-mates are back in training and should be ready for Friday. Neilson also gave an update on longer-term duo Liam Boyce and Peter Haring. He told Edinburgh Evening News: “Kye has just got a wee problem with his toe that we are managing, but he is fine. I expect Cammy Devlin and Michael Smith both to be back.
READ MORE: Robbie Neilson names Hearts area to improve as he makes 'front foot and being positive' confession
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"They are due back training today so hopefully they will be available. The other longer-term injured guys are still a bit away.
"Liam Boyce is back running but it will be another couple of months yet before he is anywhere near us. Peter Haring is doing bits of training but he is still quite a bit away yet.”
On his captaincy decision with Craig Gordon out for the season and Shankland suspended, he added: “I haven’t thought about it yet but we will need to sit down and see who is going to be playing first. Then we need to decide who is going to be captain.
“There are a few candidates but first and foremost I will pick the team and then the captain needs to be one of the guys who is starting, obviously.”
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