Hearts v Celtic team news including expected return dates for Barrie McKay and Nathaniel Atkinson

Injuries problems are easing at both Tynecastle and Parkhead

Hearts have defender Alex Cochrane and winger Yutaro Oda back in their squad for Sunday's visit of Celtic, whilst the visitors welcomed £4.3m defender Maik Nawrocki back to training during the international break.

Cochrane and Oda are recovered from ankle and hamstring issues respectively and could feature in the match at Tynecastle. Nawrocki has been out since August with his own hamstring injury and will be eased back into action by the Glasgow club.

"Alex Cochrane and Yutaro Oda are back in the squad. Nobody else is out other than Barrie McKay, Stephen Kingsley and Nathaniel Atkinson. Everybody else is fit," reported Steven Naismith, the Hearts head coach. Kingsley is sidelined until next month with a groin issue, whilst McKay's knee and Atkinson's ankle are expected to keep them out for approximately another four to six weeks.

"I've said December but that's not set in stone," explained Naismith. "They still need to go through their checks. I don't expect them back in the next two or three weeks, to be honest."

Celtic are also expecting two first-team players back by the end of the year. "He’s (Maik Nawrocki) doing very well and trained over the last week or so," said manager Brendan Rodgers. "We only have Stephen Welsh and Liel Abada [out], who will hopefully be back in December time."

Hearts have given more tickets to their own fans in the Roseburn Stand, meaning only 576 seats for Celtic supporters this weekend. "If we have our fans packed in all the stands and they are noisy, then that makes the noise greater for us. When the fans get a sniff of a bit of excitement at Tynecastle, they will back you and go for it. So that element will help," said Naismith.

"First, we need to give the fans something to back and then we need them to come with us and create that noise which can intimidate Celtic. It comes back to how we approach the game. For example, we started the derby quite well two weeks ago. The fans got behind us. Hibs had a full stand of supporters but that didn't make a difference because we were on the front foot and the dominant force, which got our fans going.

"We need to start games well enough so that we have that backing. Having more of our fans in the ground definitely makes it a better atmosphere."