Hearts wait on one injured player for Queen of the South trip as new signings work on fitness

Hearts have almost a full squad to choose from for Friday’s trip to Queen of the South with only one player causing concern.

Hearts have almost a full squad training ahead of Friday's match at Queen of the South.

Versatile full-back Aidy White has missed training this week because of a hamstring complaint and remains doubtful for the match at Palmerston Park.

Hearts are also monitoring the workload of recent signings Armand Gnanduillet, Aaron McEneff, Gary Mackay-Steven and Gervane Kastaneer.

“Everyone has trained fine,” manager Robbie Neilson told the Evening News. “The only issue we have at the moment is Aidy, who has a wee niggle in his hamstring.

“He hasn’t trained over the last couple of days so we will have a look at him and see where he is for Friday.

“Other than that, we’re all good. We are managing the ones who haven’t played as many games and making sure they get their training loads done. The guys who have just come in are also working to get up to speed with the others.”

Gnanduillet had a quiet full debut in Hearts’ 1-0 win at Ayr United last Friday, with Neilson admitting the lack of quality crosses did not help the giant Frenchman.

“He has been great to have about the place and he’s still working on his fitness levels as well. Friday night was a difficult one because I thought we lacked pace within the game,” added Neilson.

“Our two wide players played quite narrow because we weren’t getting a lot of support up to the strikers, so it ended up that we didn’t deliver a lot of crosses. It didn’t suit Armand.

“I expect he will come to the fore when we are getting the ball wide and providing him with crosses, especially at Tynecastle when our wingers are going at people one versus one.

“In general play, he links it well and he’s still trying to get that relationship with Liam Boyce and others round about him.

“When a new player comes in, it can take them a number of games before they understand how we play. It’s the same for our players to understand how a new guy plays.”

A message from the Editor: Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven't already, please consider supporting our sports coverage with a digital sports subscription.