The Irish midfielder is nursing a groin injury

Hearts midfielder Oisin McEntee today received results from a scan on his injured groin as he prepares to miss more matches. After sitting out Saturday’s 1-0 win over Livingston, the Irish midfielder was sent for a detailed assessment by medical experts and the results have now come through.

He is expected to miss around four weeks of football and return to action early next month. The diagnosis is along the lines of what Riccarton medical staff expected, meaning the news is relatively positive and the injury is not considered major. McEntee felt some pain in his groin during a training session late last week and did not take part against Livingston. He watched from the stand as Craig Halkett’s header secured a 1-0 win for Hearts and took them six points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

McEntee has been a regular member of head coach Derek McInnes’ first team this season since arriving from English League Two side Walsall. He has made 23 appearances and scored two goals so far, the most notable strike being a powerful header in December’s 2-1 win over Celtic in Glasgow. Although he has played much of the campaign at right-back, McEntee’s preferred position is central midfield and he enjoyed a few games there before injury struck.

Hearts play Dundee and St Mirren in their next two Premiership matches, followed by Falkirk in the Scottish Cup fourth round and then Celtic in the league. McEntee will likely miss all four of those games. He may have an outside chance of facing Dundee United at Tannadice on 31 January, but that will depend on how quickly he recovers. At this stage, he is not expected to be back in a maroon shirt until next month.

McInnes spoke after the win against Livingston about wanting his team to exert more authority during games. “You want to enjoy the game a lot more. Supporters are no different to us, you want to do so much right in the game,” he explained. “We had some really good stuff in the first half but we can't go from being as good as we were - looking like a team that deserve to be top of the league - then have that drop. When we are not so good and lose a wee bit of control, let's still show a wee bit of authority. These are the wee bits and pieces that we still need to learn.

“Maybe there were thoughts of the Kilmarnock game when we drew 1-1 - should we stick or twist? What we needed wasn't more effort. It was more talking and more organising and just playing against their system. When Livingston put Mo Sylla up almost into a front two and played a wee bit more direct, we don't quite get the press when the ball lands. If we look back at the game, we didn't have the same authority as we did in the first half.

“This league is like that. Saturday was top against bottom. There's a consequence when you don't take your chances. There's a consequence when you're rushed with the final pass. There’s a consequence when you're loose, particularly in transitions. We had moments to really go for them and get the second goal. A combination of some brilliant goalkeeping and some profligacy in front of goal gives oxygen to the opposition.

“In this league, Livingston might not be getting results but they are competitive and they are never going to give it up. From my point of view, it's good that we managed to see the game out. You look at the league table, we've got a clean sheet and we've won a difficult game. It shouldn't have been as difficult as it was in the second half, but it's a learning curve for us as we go through the season.”