Hearts boss confirms Liam Boyce injury setback as striker now set for surgery

Steven Naismith has provided an injury update ahead of tomorrow's Scottish Premiership match with Dundee.

Hearts striker Liam Boyce has suffered a setback in his return from injury and will now require surgery to try and resolve the issue.

Jambos head coach Steven Naismith confirmed the Northern Irishman would be going under the knife ahead of Saturday's trip to Dens Park for their Scottish Premiership match with Dundee. Thankfully though, the former Scotland international also added that talk of surgery may sound worse that it actually is and hopes that Boyce could return in time for the end of the current season.

He said: "Boycie has had a setback and needs a wee bit of surgery. What has been a hamstring injury, the route of it is more a tendon issue and we've seen a specialist who thinks it's better to get surgery done now. That sounds worse but hopefully in six to eight weeks he'll be back."

The Jambos gaffer also provided updates on fellow injured players Barrie McKay, Cameron Devlin and Peter Haring.

"Baz is nowhere near," said Naismith. "He is out of his brace and has moved to the next stage, a bit of strengthening in the gym and a bit of jogging and progressing from there - that's positive but you're not going to see him anytime soon.  Cammy is back training with the group but is maybe a week or two away from being back in the squad. Pete is still out with his knee with his injury from Livingston."

Meanwhile, Naismith also spoke about what he expects new signing Scott Fraser to bring to his side. The 29-year old, a Dundee native and former United player, will go straight into the squad for Saturday's match at Dens Park following his arrival late in the January window on loan from Charlton Athletic.

"I think he can fit in a number of positions. He can play as a ten, play off one of the sides, play as a six, if you're in a midfield three he can cover the eight positions. I think we're very flexible and the way we play you need that flexibility and he definitely brings that. From the few days we've worked with him we can see his brain is ahead of the game, he sees the game at a much quicker pace than a lot which is a massive asset. He hasn't trained consistently for a while now but his all round fitness is good so I'm really happy with getting him in. He seems really enthusiastic and wants to be part of it.

"The hardest part of the game is the final third when teams are deep and you've got to understand where the ball will be in two passes not 'I'm going to recieve it, what am I going to do with it?'. He comes into that category, he's got the intelligence not only when he gets the ball and his vision and seeing runs and passes to make but his positional play, how that can impact the defenders. He picks up good positions that aren't involved in the immediate game but for one and two passes."