UEFA Nations League ties will involve some Tynecastle stars

Hearts midfielder Blair Spittal has undergone surgery and started rehabilitation following a leg injury sustained earlier this month against Hibs. The 30-year-old will miss around three months of football after hurting himself at Easter Road, but the operation was declared a success. Head coach Wouter Vrancken is hopeful he will be back slightly sooner than anticipated.

Vrancken takes his team to Falkirk on Tuesday night hoping to extend their nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions. Irishman Oisin McEntee remains sidelined with a groin issue and another midfielder, Tomas Magnusson, is striving to overcome a stomach complaint.

Hearts beat Stenhousemuir 3-0 to reach the Premier Sports Cup on Friday night but Vrancken is expected to change his team for the return to Premiership business. The visit to Falkirk is the first of two away league fixtures, with Kilmarnock to follow on Saturday at Rugby Park. The Belgian is not resting on laurels despite his team’s unbeaten form.

“I always focus on what's coming directly,” said Vrancken. “After Stenhousemuir, the focus was directly on Falkirk. Going there, trying to get the result there, what we want, putting energy in that. You have to enjoy the good moments, because in football when you don't enjoy the little moments, then you don't enjoy anything any more and you're only waiting until the end of the season.

“We enjoy also working with the player because they give so much on the session, so there's also a form of satisfaction. When you get the results, of course, it's an extra. I think maybe in the [international] break we can look back on what we did already a little bit more. Until then, we just keep working for the next game. The squad is the same as Stenhousemuir. Tomas has a stomach ache. We'll have to see how he is tomorrow. Oisin is still too early.”

Vrancken remains positive on Spittal’s prospects after surgery. “Yeah, it went really good. Now it's full on rehab, and hopefully he can do his rehab and keep pushing without a setback in the rehab. Then he will be back soon,” said the manager, who explained that French striker Amadou Ba-Sy did not make the squad at Stenhousemuir because of numbers. “You have to make decisions and we need Yan Danda for midfield. Stephen Kingsley came back and some others came back, so we can only put nine players on the bench.”

Friday’s win earned Hearts a semi-final Edinburgh derby against rivals Hibs at Hampden. “I'm happy that we're in the semi-final. I don't care who we play against, actually,” smiled Vrancken. “We want to win the semi-final when we are there. When it's an Edinburgh derby, it's nice for the fans, I think. We are looking forward to this, but the focus is on Falkirk.”

Several Hearts players are in contention for Scotland call-ups with new national coach Sebastien Pocognoli set to name his first squad on Tuesday for upcoming UEFA Nations League ties. Striker James Wilson has scored four goals in his last six club appearances and is already a full internationalist with two caps.

He is a strong contender alongside Riccarton colleagues Josh McPake and Calvin Miller. The two wingers have been in excellent form during their first few weeks as Hearts players and have both caught Pocognoli’s attention. Defenders Harry Milne and Stuart Findlay are also being monitored by Scottish Football Association officials, while young goalkeeper Liam McFarlane is impressing on loan at Partick Thistle.

Vrancken had missed calls from his former Genk team-mate Pocognoli on Monday. “I spoke with him a few weeks ago, and I missed calls from him today, so I have to still call him back,” said Vrancken. “So I'm pretty confident, actually, that there are a few players in the selection. I think there will be a few, so let's hope he doesn't kill them in training so that they have a bit of mental rest,” he laughed.

“Focusing on something else can be a bit the same than taking some rest in another environment, and for them a great environment then. So we'll see, and as long as they keep focusing on Hearts , it's okay. A call-up is a sign that they're good, and probably also that the team is doing well. The players here, they know that they have to focus on Hearts, be concentrated to perform with Hearts, doing what the team wants, and then you can show yourself for the national team. It doesn't work the other way around. So the focus has to be here, and I'm pretty confident that they're all in it like this.”

Other Hearts players may be inspired seeing team-mates enlisted for international duty. “Yeah, for sure,” agreed Vrancken. “When you see your team-mates reaching those momentum and those selections, then it has to give a boost towards everybody. It means also it's not only that player who is top, you cannot be top on your own, so you need your team-mates. It means that the team-mates are also good, so it's also a big plus for them.”

Vrancken joked that part of him wants Pocognoli to overlook Hearts players and let them rest. “Part of me, yeah. A big part, actually,” he chuckled. “Because of all those games, of course. At the other end, I think, like I said before, it can also be another environment, another atmosphere, and it can also be mentally a nice thing to focus on something else and to come back with full energy to Hearts afterwards.”

Scotland face Slovenia in Ljubljana, Switzerland in Glasgow, North Macedonia in Skopje and finally Slovenia at Hampden during the three-week international period. The previous September and October international breaks were combined to avoid a stop-start period for clubs. All four games are Nations League ties, with the remaining two coming in November, when North Macedonia visit Glasgow before the Scots travel to play Switzerland.