Two Premier Sports Cup group games to come

The delay on Alexandros Kyziridis’ Hearts debut is down to the Greek winger building up basic fitness at Riccarton. He is the only one of six new signings yet to make a competitive debut for the Edinburgh club, which could come in Saturday’s Premier Sports Cup tie at Stirling Albion if he proves himself ready.

A niggling injury caused Kyziridis to miss training sessions last week, and he was an unused substitute in Hearts’ first two Premier Sports Cup matches against Dunfermline Athletic and Hamilton Academical. A summer arrival from the Slovakian club Zemplín Michalovce, the 24-year-old is in contention for the remaining two group phase games against Stirling and Dumbarton.

“We need to build his training,” Hearts head coach Derek McInnes told the Edinburgh News. “He's missed a week of training and we're trying to build his minutes up through his working week for him to be included in the games.” Hearts travel to Stirling on Saturday evening before hosting Dumbarton at Tynecastle in their final Group E match on Wednesday.

Tynecastle officials are still working to finalise the transfers of Albanian winger Sabah Kerjota and Burkinabe forward Pierre Landry Kabore. Both need to go through different immigration procedures to obtain a UK visa after arriving in Scotland. There is a chance at least one of the two players could be signed and registered before this weekend, but Hearts are facing a race against the clock for that to happen.

Kabore, 24, is ready to play and could potentially be included in the squad to face Stirling Albion if paperwork is finalised in time. He enjoyed regular action with JK Narva Trans in Estonia, where the football season runs from March to November, hence fitness will not be an issue. He is a left-footed right winger but scored the majority of his 22 goals for Narva Trans as a striker. Hearts intend to use him in both positions at times.

Kerjota will need longer to be ready for competitive Scottish football once his £120,000 transfer from Italian Serie C side US Sambenedettese goes through. He is another left-footed right winger but can also operate on the left flank and will be used mainly as a wide player. The 23-year-old finished the season in May and will require time to catch up on pre-season training before fans can see him in maroon.

Hearts wait for transfer deals but strikers are scoring goals in Premier Sports Cup

McInnes has plenty options meantime after forwards Elton Kabangu, James Wilson and Claudio Braga all scored in the 4-0 win over Hamilton. He is considering whether to play Braga from the start this weekend after the Portuguese stole the show as a substitute. After an assist for Wilson’s goal, Braga then added the fourth himself in between a series of runs, tricks and flicks which delighted supporters at Broadwood.

“He just lit the place up, didn't he? He was a wee bottle of pop when he came on, just desperate to please,” said McInnes. “Claudio was a wee bit down on himself Sunday and Monday. Not because he wasn't playing but I think it's because he's probably built Saturday up in his own head to be that [big] game.

“He's desperate to do well, and what he will do work extremely hard to be a success here. I think he'll have the wee bit of brilliance and the wee tricks and stuff that will always make him a wee bit of a crowd pleaser. But I think what you're going to get from him as well is the fact that he's going to be a hard-working boy who's desperate to do well.

“He was a bit hard on himself at the weekend, I felt. He does a lot of his best work coming in narrow off that left-hand side. Even on Tuesday night, he did a lot of his good work from the left-hand side. He sets up James Wilson from the other channel, which was good to see.

“His overall play was good because, when you've got boys like that at the top of the pitch, they're infectious. They set the tone - boys who press and work and look after the ball and run in behind. We've got strikers who all do something a bit different, but the more you've got that threat in behind, ones who look after the ball, you're always going to be drawn to that. It's good that all strikers scored goals again on Tuesday.”

James Wilson’s Hearts role for season 2025/26

Wilson will find himself rested at some point in the next week or so but he will play a major part in Hearts’ forthcoming campaign. The 18-year-old Riccarton youth academy graduate has already impressed the new management team at Tynecastle, Tuesday being the latest in a series of strong attacking displays.

“He did a lot right at the early part of the game, and then when he runs in behind he ghosts in and his timing is so sweet,” observed McInnes. “He needs to play closer to his partner at times, and sometimes he doesn't see himself in the build-up play. I thought we lost him to the game a wee bit for spells against Dunfermline, and there was a wee danger of losing him to the game a wee bit before half-time on Tuesday.

“We spoke about that, about playing more connected. I thought he was brilliant in the second half. The intelligence to drop off, be the extra man, then take defenders into areas they don't really want to go to. Then he's got that ability and the fitness and the intelligence to go and spin in behind. He's in the middle of the goal, where he should be, running right through the goal. I like him. He's got a lot of good qualities and the thing is, he's always asking the right questions.”

McInnes praised the Hearts players’ attitude in their first two competitive games despite facing lower-league opponents. His team are fare from the finished article with more transfer business to be done, but the manager is satisfied that everyone involved is applying themselves.

“We spoke about things we could have done better,” explained McInnes. “We've worked on a shape against what we thought Hamilton would be. They've always been 4-2-3-1 - last season, the League Cup games, the pre-season games. It just shows you, ultimately, it's not about systems and tactics. It's about making sure, particularly in games like Tuesday, that your approach is first-class.

“Our boys are Premiership players, not just because they're good players, but it was important that we showed a Premiership attitude and a Premiership desire to run and work. I thought we got all that. We scored good goals at good times. We passed up good opportunities for it to be a far more comfortable first half. The difference between Saturday and Tuesday is we don't give the opposition any real encouragement.

“I thought we started like a train in the first 10-15 minutes, really good. Then we had a wee bit of a lull and it's two teams playing the same system [3-5-2]. Sometimes when that happens, it can be a wee bit cagey and a wee bit slow. It's important that, in those moments, we try to keep the shoulder to the wheel, keep that concerted pressure, demand the team play forward, run forward and look after the ball.

“I still thought that we could have done a lot of that better, to be honest. Elton gets his goal and I'm pleased for him because he'd missed a couple and he should score them. But you know what it's like for strikers. He feels good about himself coming in. James gets another goal, Braga gets a goal, and I thought we were really professional throughout. Not that we weren't professional on Saturday, but I thought we didn't give Hamilton too much encouragement.

“Hamilton have got a good level of player. They're a championship team playing in League One. They finished above Dunfermline, really, in terms of points last season. It was only through the finances and the points deduction [that they went down], so we made that point clear to the players. The game demanded our full attention and we got that. I'm glad we came through the game unscathed. It's four more goals, which is never a bad thing, and we got a clean sheet.”