Dutch Winger gets trial ok

DUTCH winger Dries Boussatta will tonight try to win a permanent move to Hearts after the Gorgie outfit gained clearance to play him in the under-21 clash with Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

Boss Craig Levein has been impressed by the 29-year-old in training but is keen to see the wide man in a match situation.

Levein revealed he was close to securing the necessary paper work in time to include Boussatta in the squad for Saturday’s trip to Kilmarnock.

But he will now use this evening’s meeting with the Dons to assess the AZ Alkmaar attacker, who arrived in the Capital last week.

"He has looked fine in training but I will know a bit more after seeing him in action tonight," he said.

"I was close to getting clearance for the weekend but didn’t quite manage it so tonight’s game is his chance to show what he can do."

Levein was forced to hand teenager Paul McMullan his debut from the bench at Rugby Park, the young winger doing well as the Jambos fought back from 3-1 down with eight minutes to go to snatch a valuable point.

And the Hearts boss highlighted McMullan’s display as to the reason why he is so anxious to bring wide men to the club.

"I thought the lad did very well when he came on," said Levein. "He gave us width and provided a lot better shape to the team. And it showed how important it is for us to have one, if not two wingers in the team to help the balance.

"Paul and Graham Weir, who also came on against Kilmarnock, are young players taking their first steps in the game and have the hunger which is maybe missing from the older ones. They gave us the urgency which we were lacking and also the unpredictable aspect of their play.

"McMullan wasn’t scared to take people on, although some of his crosses could have been better."

Andy Kirk, meanwhile, will not have to undergo an operation to rectify his back problem.

The striker saw a specialist in Paisley on Friday and was told that complete rest should hopefully be the answer.

Had he been forced to go under the knife, the Northern Ireland internationalist would have been ruled out for the rest of the season.

There is still a chance he could take some part in the campaign, although after five weeks rest his overall fitness levels will have suffered.

"Andy had some scans done on his disc problem at the end of the week and it appears that he doesn’t require an operation, which is good news," said Levein.

"We will rest him up and then have another look."

Taken from the Scotsman