Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon set for an outing against Rangers

The Scotland internationalist is working to return after 10 months out

Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon will continue his return from injury with a friendly outing against Rangers this week. A match has been arranged to give mainly B team and reserve players from both clubs vital game time, and Gordon is set to take part.

The 40-year-old has been out of action for 10 months since suffering a double leg-break last December but is now pushing towards full fitness. He is back in full training and played in a closed-door friendly against Spartans earlier this month.

A game against Rangers offers an other opportunity to test himself ahead of a return to the Hearts first team, which should come at some point in November. Hearts will use the match to give some of their B team squad match action during a break between their competitive fixtures in the Lowland League.

Head coach Steven Naismith confirmed to the Evening News that Gordon would also play. "There is a game against Rangers B which is for Craig and the B team players. That gets him minutes and we might do something similar for him again in the next week or two," explained Naismith.

"The B team's fixture list is quite sporadic at times. They can go two and a half weeks or three weeks without playing, so it suits us to get games arranged. That allows them to continue their routine, plus it allows us to give players minutes if they need them."

The Hearts first team take on Rangers in the Premiership at Ibrox on Sunday, but that game will come too soon for Gordon.