Key Hearts fixture moved from Christmas week to January as SPFL agree switch

Tynecastle Park will host Friday night football in January after Hearts and St Mirren agreed to move next month’s cinch Premiership fixture. The clubs will now meet on the evening of Friday, January 13, at 7.45pm instead of Wednesday, December 21.
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The change has been ratified by the Scottish Professional Football League, allowing the game to take place the day before the Viaplay Cup semi-finals begin. Both sides are out of the competition and would prefer to play at a weekend rather than the midweek before Christmas. It is the second time the fixture has been postponed this season. The original date in September was scrapped following Queen Elizabeth II’s passing.

Hearts players are currently on a two-week break after completing their pre-World Cup schedule with a 1-1 draw against Livingston last Saturday. That leaves them sitting joint-fifth in the Premiership table alongside St Johnstone and St Mirren following a hectic schedule of domestic and European games. Most of the Hearts first-team squad have been given a fortnight off to rest before reporting back to Riccarton. They will then head to the south of Spain for a winter training camp and aim to play one friendly match during their stay. At least one more match is planned back at home before the Premiership resumes on Saturday, December 17, when Kilmarnock visit Tynecastle.

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By then, coaching and medical staff hope injuries sidelining defender Stephen Kingsley, midfielder Peter Haring and forward Stephen Humphrys will have subsided. Hearts welcomed centre-backs Kye Rowles and Craig Halkett back into the fold earlier this month after long-term absences.