Hearts explain the decision to promote youth players to first team ahead of Celtic games

Three young Hearts players have been promoted to first-team training sessions this week ahead of a league and cup double header against Celtic.

Striker Makenzie Kirk, 19, joined the senior squad at Riccarton alongside 17-year-old midfielder Macaulay Tait and 16-year-old winger Bobby McLuckie. They have predominantly played with Steven Naismith’s B team in the Lowland League this season.

Hearts travel to Celtic Park in the Premiership tonight before hosting the same opponents in Saturday’s Scottish Cup quarter-final. Manager Robbie Neilson is easing the workload on some of his players as a result of the busy schedule, hence the decision to call up the B team triumvirate.

“We’ve had Bobby McLuckie, Macaulay Tait and Makenzie Kirk up training with us to see how they do. It was just about numbers,” Neilson told the Evening News. “We obviously play on Wednesday and Saturday so a few of the boys won't be part of all the sessions. It's good to get some of these kids in among the first team.

“The B team have done well this year. We always knew the initial stage of the season would be difficult because they were getting used to the physicality of it all in the Lowland League. In recent weeks and months, they have really come on and it's been great to see.”

Hearts coaching staff hope to see the B team continue in next season’s Lowland League after declaring their first season in the division a success. They applied to enter last summer after Celtic and Rangers had B teams voted in by the Lowland League board 12 months previously.

“We are still hopeful that arrangement will get carried through to next year,” confirmed Neilson.