Exclusive:Major Hearts injury wait as several players are sent for scans and a winger takes a knock

Hearts are awaiting scan results on five players ahead of Saturday’s Premiership match against Aberdeen, allied to a fresh injury for winger Sabah Kerjota. Riccarton medical staff are already busy rehabilitating the likes of captain Lawrence Shankland, midfielders Cammy Devlin, Calem Nieuwenhof and Finlay Pollock, plus defender Stephen Kingsley. They now have various other issues to contend with following Saturday’s win over Falkirk.

Goalkeeper Craig Gordon has a shoulder problem, as does Irish midfielder Oisin McEntee, defender Stuart Findlay appeared to injure his upper leg during the game, Brazilian Eduardo Ageu pulled up pre-match with a thigh problem, and midfielder Beni Baningime missed the match with a knee complaint. In addition, Kerjota suffered a hip injury during Tuesday’s bounce game against Dundee at Riccarton.

The Hearts head coach Derek McInnes provided an update on the situation earlier today. “We had numerous scans done yesterday and today between Craig Gordon, Stuart Findlay, Oisin McEntee, Ageu and Beni Baningime,” McInnes told the Edinburgh News. “We should know the results in the next 24 hours between tonight and tomorrow. We are hoping for good news, obviously. We had a bounce game earlier today and Sabah Kerjota picked up a wee hip strain.”

Gordon’s shoulder is causing concern and he may need to visit a specialist for a second opinion. Hearts will await news on Findlay and McEntee, but there is hope that Baningime could be available this weekend. The length of Ageu’s absence has yet to be determined. McInnes confirmed that centre-back Craig Halkett and on-loan midfielder Marc Leonard are fit. “Those two are fine, they trained earlier this morning,” he said.

Shankland and Devlin are scheduled to travel with the Hearts first team squad to Dubai next week to continue their respective rehab. A five-day warm-weather training camp has been organised during a two-week break between fixtures. Devlin is closest to a first-team return after an ankle injury and could be available for the league trip to Kilmarnock on 14 March, while Shankland is expected back late March/early April following a hamstring strain.

Hearts enter the Aberdeen match sitting four points clear at the top of the Premiership table. They will hope to increase that advantage ahead of their two closest challengers, Rangers and Celtic, meeting at Ibrox on Sunday. With 10 games remaining, McInnes’ side are looking for points in their quest to secure a first top-flight Scottish title since 1960. However, they still have some difficult fixtures to come against Celtic in Glasgow, Rangers at Tynecastle and Hibs at Easter Road, plus two matches against Motherwell.

McInnes praised the Hearts supporters following the 1-0 victory against Falkirk, which came courtesy of Islam Chesnokov’s first goal for his new club. “I need to thank the fans, because in that little period in the first half, it would have been easy to make the team more anxious. I actually thought they were the opposite, I thought they were brilliant,” said the manager.

“I think they understand it. I think there's so many at Hearts for whom this is new and I think they all recognise that role to play. It helped the team. We get the goal just before half-time, so rather than coming off to grumbles and all the rest of it, we get the goal in the game and we’ve got something to hang on to. I thought we were the team more likely to get the second goal.”