Hearts set to hand Landry Kabore a reprieve

Landry Kabore’s energetic performance against FC Thun could earn the Hearts striker a fresh opportunity against Falkirk on Sunday. Head coach Wouter Vrancken praised Kabore’s effort as a substitute during Thursday’s 3-1 UEFA Conference League defeat in Switzerland. Vrancken is now ready to hand him a reprieve two and a half months since he last started a game for the Edinburgh club.

Kabore and fellow forward Amadou Ba-Sy were told to show more desire and intensity on the pitch if they wanted to play in Vrancken’s Hearts side. Ba-Sy remains on the periphery of the squad, while Kabore has managed just five substitute appearances since he was named in the starting line-up against Rapid Vienna at Tynecastle back on 20 August.

His efforts in Thun made an impression on his manager, who is without 11 first-team players for this weekend’s Premiership fixture. Vrancken has given Kabore time to learn what he wants from forwards and improve his work-rate. The player can operate as a central striker or out wide and may be utilised in a wide role against Falkirk.

“He showed some good energy against Thun. I think he comes from fourth place [in the strikers’ queue], let's say,” said Vrancken. “He was out of the picture at one time, but he was training the last few days and weeks really well. You saw the energy that he put into it on Thursday. By doing that, you show yourself also that you want to play and that you want to push and keep pushing. Then you take the moments that you got, like we said already before. I was happy with his intensity.”

Hearts have won only two of their last 10 games in all competitions and are severely depleted as they prepare to welcome Falkirk to Gorgie. John McGlynn’s side are buoyant after last week’s 2-0 victory over Celtic, which saw them climb to fourth place in the Premiership table. They are two points behind third-placed Hearts ahead of the weekend.

The Tynecastle squad returned from Switzerland on Friday after a difficult night in Thun which exposed more sub-standard defending. Stephen Kingsley injured a hamstring and joins a long list of injured first-team players. Those still fit are eager to atone for midweek disappointment by recapturing winning form against Falkirk. A win would give Hearts a huge boost entering the international break.

“Yeah, it's always a big game, it's always a big game to play,” commented Vrancken. “But now, like we said already, we lost Kings on Thursday, especially for this week. So we have to see what we have and see how we will do it and then be there with strong belief to go into this game. Luckily it's at Tynecastle, so we have the support from the fans for a full stadium. Hopefully this gives us extra energy to finish with a good game in this run of games towards the break.”