Hearts star Gomis to face Accies but Nicholson will miss out

Morgaro Gomis was injured in training and was left out last weekend

The club’s vice-captain missed last week’s 6-0 thrashing of Motherwell having injured himself in training, but he is expected to be available at New Douglas Park.

Sam Nicholson may not be risked on the synthetic surface in Lanarkshire as he recovers from a knee problem. He also sat out the Motherwell game and Hearts won’t include him in their matchday squad unless he is 100 per cent fit.

“We’ll see how they both are by the end of the week. I expect Gomis to be back, hopefully Nicholson as well,” said head coach Robbie Neilson. “I’m not going to rush Sam because we’ve got some big games coming up. We’re playing on astroturf this weekend as well so we need to be wary.

“He has to be absolutely bang-on. If he’s bang-on then he’ll have a chance of playing. If there are any issues at all then he won’t be risked. Morgaro had a problem with his foot, he nicked it in training last week. I expect him to be training with us today, Friday and Saturday.”

Neilson warned Hearts to be wary of the wounded animal after Hamilton’s 8-1 defeat at Celtic Park on Tuesday night. Manager Martin Canning is under pressure after only one win in his club’s last 15 matches, dating back to early October.

“I was at the game on Tuesday night and it was a really difficult one for them,” continued Neilson. “They’ll be desperate to put that right after what they experienced. You can never tell if it’s a good or a bad thing to get teams at a time like this. Hamilton will be desperate to show their fans they’re going to fight back and get a result against us.

“I think you have to be wary of them and give them respect. They obviously had a bad result the other night but they still have good players. They beat us the last time down there so we know we’re in for a tough one.”

Meanwhile, winger Jamie Walker’s recovery from knee surgery continues at rapid pace after he resumed full training with the first-team squad. “Walker took part in training for the first time on Tuesday. He’s at about 75 per cent now so I’m hopeful of getting him involved for the Inverness game next week,” confirmed Neilson.