How Hearts will replace Liam Boyce in their team - and Calem Nieuwenhof's return to action

Lawrence Shankland’s injury and Liam Boyce’s impending transfer to Derry City leaves Hearts needing a short-term solution in the second striker position. Shankland, the club captain, is not far away from returning to action after a calf complaint, while it remains to be seen if Boyce is still a Tynecastle player come Sunday’s Premiership match at Aberdeen.

Head coach Neil Critchley is preparing contingency plans. Elton Kabangu, the recent loan signing from Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise, is ready for action at Pittodrie if needed. The option of using an attacking midfielder instead of a forward is being considered by Hearts coaching staff. Yan Dhanda, Blair Spittal and Jorge Grant are among those who could fill that role.

“Yes, we've spoken about different players,” said Critchley. “If we decide to play with a No.10 behind a No.9, Yan can do that, Blair Spittal could possibly do that, Jorge Grant could possibly do that. There are different options within the squad and they all bring different characteristics to the team. That's if we decide to go that, but we also like to go with two out-and-out strikers as well.”

Hearts are awaiting the return of Australian midfielder Calem Nieuwenhof following 10 months out with a torn hamstring tendon. He won’t feature at Aberdeen but has a very slender chance of being involved in next week’s Scottish Cup fourth-round tie away to Highland League Brechin City. Whenever his reintroduction comes, he will be expected to be ready.

“There'll be no easing himself back in at Brechin, I can assure you of that,” said Critchley. “There's no easing their way in. When they're on the pitch, they're expected to perform. It’s not: ‘Let's just give them 20 minutes here and there and treat it like a pre-season game.’ When they're on the pitch, they need to be ready to perform. I'm not saying that [playing at Brechin] won't happen, by the way, because sometimes the games allow you to do that. But no, if Calem is going to be ready, then we need to think about what's best for him in the next couple of weeks.”

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Gerald Taylor, the on-loan Costa Rican right-back, is training again after a knee injury but won’t be ready to play for a few weeks yet. “Gerald has only just come back into team training. Calem has obviously taken longer because he's been out for longer, but he's been training for longer,” explained Critchley. “They've had no football in terms of time on the pitch, which is something we've discussed and hopefully we can rectify that in the next week or two.

“One of the stumbling blocks is those players can't play B-team games because of the rules. So being able to fit a game in our schedule to give Calem some game time has been difficult and we have that opportunity possibly coming up in the next few weeks. I think it would be difficult - although we might have to do it - to expect Calem and Gerald just to come straight into a big league game, for instance, with having no minutes on the pitch whatsoever.”

Another player in a similar situation to Nieuwenhof and Taylor is 19-year-old full-back Ethan Drysdale. He suffered an injury in last summer’s pre-season friendly against Leyton Orient at Tynecastle. Now recovered, Hearts would like him to play B team matches but inclement January weather is making it difficult. Four of the last six B team fixtures have been postponed, including Friday night’s game gainst Gala Fairydean.

“Yeah, not helpful at all. The weather's beaten us at the moment,” said Critchley. “The B-team game was called off last Friday. I think they're playing possibly a bounce game or an in-house game on Saturday that they've organised. The B-team obviously need to play games themselves and Ethan needs to get minutes and keep building his fitness. He trained with us the other day, but again, he's not played since pre-season, I don't think. And he's only a young boy, he's got no senior experience yet, so we'll just take baby steps with him.”

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