Hearts injury update on Beni Baningime, Frankie Kent and Stephen Kingsley ahead of huge games

Hearts head coach Neil Critchley delivered the latest injury update on defenders Frankie Kent and Stephen Kingsley following training at Riccarton this morning. Ahead of Saturday’s vital Premiership fixture against Dundee and next week’s UEFA Conference League tie in Copenhagen, the head coach is hoping preparations go as smoothly as possible.

Both Kent and Kingsley were forced off during the first half of Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Aberdeen at Tynecastle Park. Kent went down with a knock on his quad muscle and was then substituted on 35 minutes. That came after Kingsley was stretchered off with a damaged hamstring. Critchley explained the diagnosis on the two players.

“Stephen will be having surgery on his hamstring so will be out for a significant period of time. It will be months,” said the Englishman. “Whether that’s this season or going into next season I wouldn’t want to say because he still needs to have the surgery. That’s unfortunate for him and us. Frankie has done some training this week and we are still hoping he will be in contention for tomorrow.”

Midfielder Beni Baningime is also doubtful to face Dundee having missed training on Friday with a knee problem. “That's another conversation we're going to have this afternoon. He trained yesterday,” stated Critchley. “He's had a significant injury with his knee in the past, so every now and again he can have a little flare up, but it settles down quite quickly. He actually had one only a couple of weeks ago and carried on and played, so that's something we'll have to have a discussion about this afternoon.”

Below is the latest injury news for Hearts and Dundee against of Saturday’s match at Tynecastle. The Edinburgh club need a victory as they attempt to move away from the Premiership’s relegation zone. They then travel to Denmark to face FC Copenhagen in the Conference League next Thursday.