Hearts arrange extra game this week against Premiership opponents

Hearts have arranged a bounce match this week to help players whose game time has been restricted recently.

Hearts are unbeaten in the league this season.

The Edinburgh club will take on Dundee United in a closed-door fixture to bridge the gap in Premiership matches during the international break.

Players including Peter Haring, Jamie Walker, Aaron McEneff, Andy Halliday and Armand Gnanduillet have been on the periphery of the first team so far this season.

The friendly match will give them opportunities to work on match sharpness, with Hearts due to travel to Ibrox to play Rangers a week on Saturday.

“The players have got some time off, the international boys are away, we have a bounce game, then we have the weekend off. Once we come back in it’s about getting ready for Ibrox,” explained manager Robbie Neilson.

“It’s just a bounce game to keep some of them ticking over. Dundee United are coming down so that will give everybody a chance to play 45 minutes.”

The absence of a reserve league in Scotland this season reduces chances for players to hone fitness in between first-team outings.

“There aren’t any reserve fixtures this year so it’s difficult for players,” added Neilson. “Peter Haring came on for us at the weekend against Motherwell but he hasn't had a lot of game time in the last three or four weeks.

“You’re asking him to come into a game that’s already 100 miles an hour and he’s to be up to speed. This bounce game gives him and a few others some sort of game time.”

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