Zander Clark injury update as Hearts explain what caused the goalkeeper to pull out at Dunfermline

Club taking no chances with their Scotland squad man.

Hearts pledged to take no chances with Zander Clark after the goalkeeper was pulled out of Sunday’s pre-season friendly at Dunfermline. Clark reported feeling a niggle after kicking the ball during the warm-up and the management team decided not to risk playing him.

Harry Stone took his place in the 1-1 draw at East End Park, with teenage defender Luke Rathie scoring a deflected opening goal before Peter Haring deflected the ball into his own net for Dunfermline’s equaliser.

Clark is a vital part of the Hearts team with first-choice keeper Craig Gordon still working back to full fitness after a double leg-break suffered last December. He is pushing to return in the coming weeks, but Clark is expected to remain No.1 for the cinch Premiership kick-off on August 5.

Hearts will now wait to assess the 31-year-old Scotland squad man over the next few days. Head coach Frankie McAvoy confirmed that the keeper felt a niggle in his leg during pre-match preparations.

“Zander just felt a wee niggle when he kicked so he didn’t want to take any chances,” explained McAvoy. “Stonesy is a good young goalie, we told him to get a good 90 minutes under his belt, see how he does and how he reacts to it. It’s a big thing playing with that support behind him.”

Asked if Clark’s problem was not serious, McAvoy replied: “Hopefully. We will find out further but I don’t think it looks that bad. He just felt something in his leg. We will get him assessed.”

On the game, McAvoy stated that Hearts are looking to get players game time and that sharpness would come later. “It was good to get more minutes in the boys. First half, we were good at times,” he said.

Hearts' Zander Clark is injured in the warm-up during a pre-season friendly match between Dunfermline and Hearts. Pic: SNS

“You could see how we are trying to build from the back, through the thirds, get them moving, bringing in some rotations and getting everyone comfortable on the ball. We had a few good opportunities to try and score but sharpness will be the last thing that will come.

“We’ve just got to keep working away with that. In the second half we changed it and weren’t anywhere near as fluent as we hoped. We made eight changes, four young boys who we felt had done well, we gave them a chance to see how they do in front of that magnificent support.

“The Dunfermline goal was a culmination of errors. I know it was just about minutes but you always want to win. It was great to get the three Australian boys back, along with Yutaro [Oda] and Beni [Baningime] and [Liam] Boycey coming into the fold is good. So we are starting to get them cranking up. Next week is big, two games down south.”

James McPake, the Dunfermline manager, fielded new signing Michael O’Halloran. “It was good game against a good opponent,” said McPake. “The two teams worked really hard in tough conditions.

“Michael is a player I’ve coached and played against. We know the qualities he will add to the squad. He’s in good condition. There’s lots to Michael’s game. He’s still as explosive as he was but he needs to play football. Here is the right place for him to do that.”