Alan boost for Jambos

By PAUL KIDDIE

HEARTS have been boosted by the news that Alan Maybury will escape suspension following his booking in Sunday’s 2-0 triumph over Hibs.

The Irishman was cautioned by the referee for a blatant block on Scott Brown in the second half of his side’s Tynecastle victory, the club believing the yellow card took the former Leeds United defender through the disciplinary points threshold.

It was feared he would then be hit by a two-match ban but the Scottish Football Association today confirmed that the full-back is still short of the threshold.

"The referee has the infringement down in his report as obstruction which carries a two-point penalty meaning the player is one point short of a ban," said an SFA spokesperson.

Phil Stamp, meanwhile, trained yesterday with the rest of the first-team squad to help ease boss Craig Levein’s injury worries ahead of tomorrow’s UEFA Cup second round, second leg clash with Bordeaux.

The former Middlesbrough star took a painful blow to his cheekbone in the Under-21 derby on Monday night at Easter Road and was causing some concern.

However, he reported back to the club yesterday and was able to take a full part in the session.

Encouragingly for the Jambos, Scott Severin was also able to train for the first time since being sidelined by a groin injury.

Providing he suffers no reaction, he will be involved against the French tomorrow as Hearts look to defend their 1-0 advantage from the first leg.

"Scott Severin trained for the first time in a while and hopefully he has come through it," said Levein.

"I would like him to be available for tomorrow, although I don’t know how fit he will be. Phil was still feeling some discomfort from his bang in the face but he will be okay, which is also good news."

Full-back Robbie Neilson only took part in the warm-up yesterday before heading back to Tynecastle for treatment.

The defender took a blow to his thigh against Hibs but Levein expects him to have shaken off the knock in time to be considered for the Euro showdown.

"All the guys are desperate to play tomorrow as you can imagine," added Levein.

"We will be shuffling the pack over the next few games with things being so hectic and to ensure we have some fresh legs available. So some of the boys are obviously going to be disappointed but that’s just the way it is going to be."

Taken from the Scotsman