Hearts take a transfer stance, injury news on three players, plus European squad changes

Wouter Vrancken takes Hearts to Aberdeen tomorrow for the first Premiership fixture of his tenure. He is without two captains, Craig Halkett and Stephen Kingsley, due to injury, while record signing Eduardo Ageu is still not sufficiently fit to be included. Positive news for the Tynecastle head coach is that two new recruits are in the squad - goalkeeper Beau Reus and midfielder Laurent Mendy. Winger Alexandros Kyziridis is also available after cramp forced him off against Sturm Graz in midweek.

Hearts must recover quickly after a 6-0 aggregate defeat by the Austrians in the Champions League second qualifying round. They travel to play Portuguese giants Benfica next week in the Europa League third qualifying round, but league progress is important after last season’s title challenge. Reus will take over from the departed Alexander Schwolow in goal, Mendy is pushing for inclusion following his arrival from Forest Green Rovers.

Kingsley is having a hamstring injury scanned today. “Kings is not in the squad at the weekend. For the rest, I think it's not big problems,” explained Vrancken. “It's a lot of fatigue, of course, with all those games so we have to manage it day-by-day and look who's fit tomorrow. Beau and Mendy are in the squad list.”

Asked if Kingsley’s problem could be long-term, Vrancken replied: “Don't know yet. Hope not. You have to always be careful when you speak about those things, especially muscle injuries. You have to see it day-by-day, week-by-week. I hope not, because he fits well in what we want. He's comfortable on the ball and stuff like that. You saw it also in the game already when he played. It's a shame, but hopefully not too long.

“He has a scan today. It doesn't make sense to do it too early, because otherwise you have too much fluid around. It's better to wait a little bit longer, because you know he will not be ready on the weekend. So it's better to wait a few days longer and see it more clearly.

“Ageu is still not there. Hopefully he comes back really soon but, again, it’s week-by-week, making the evaluation. He not for next week, I think. Kyzi is okay. He trained yesterday so I think he will train today without problems also.Like I said, sometimes you have to manage the load, because of fatigue. You know the volume is not there, so you need to adapt to the individual - how they feel, what you see.”

Vrancken explained that Hearts’ signing business is paused for now because the first-team squad needs trimmed before any further new additions. “For sure it's important, because the numbers are really large now. It's big numbers,” he smiled. “I think we have 32 in total so, on the pitch, it's difficult. The group is too big but we know this and they are working on it. We are honest so the guys know their situations when there may be less chance to play.”

Recent recruits Tom Renaud and Amadou Ba-Sy could be ready to start matches soon, along with Icelandic midfielder Tomas Magnusson. “I think they are making their steps. It's a pity for the last game, actually, that Amadou couldn't have the bigger role,” said Vrancken. “The aim was that we could score in the first half and bring him on with more physical presence for the last 45 minutes or 30 minutes.

“Again, I think he has to make the steps, and he will make the steps. He is making the steps to have a bigger role in the team. I expect everybody to push themselves to be ready. Also, Kabo [Landry Kabore] played the first leg[against Sturm] but he shows also good intentions and good energy in training sessions. We need everybody to step up, because when you have a lot of games like this, you cannot do it with 11 players.

“I think every game is different, for sure, and for sure it will be a different game at Aberdeen [compared to Sturm]. It's a different style, different type of players. It's all different. We have to be ready, because the history in Aberdeen is not looking that nice. So it's time to change stats in this case but we know it's a difficult away game. We are all still confident that we can do good things there.”

Hearts’ last victory at Pittodrie was back in 2016. Despite nine new signings, a new management team appointed a month ago, and short preparation time, Vrancken won’t accept excuses. “It's never an excuse, it's just facts,” he stated. “Like I said after Sturm Graz, the fact is that the preparation is not long. Again, we don't make excuses there. We have to find our best football as soon as possible. This is sport and this is what the challenge is.”

Hearts will submit their squad for the Benfica tie to UEFA today with Reus, Mendy and winger Josh McPake all added. Christian Borchgrevink will drop out for McPake to step in. “Kings is out, Mendy is coming in and Josh is in the squad. Beau, of course, instead of Alex. I think that's it,” said Vrancken.