Jambo duo set to face suspension

PAUL KIDDIE

HEARTS boss Craig Levein has suffered a blow with the news that in-form midfielders Paul Hartley and Patrick Kisnorbo are set to be hit by suspension.

The Gorgie stars were both booked in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Dundee United at Tynecastle, the cautions taking the pair crashing through the disciplinary points threshold.

Hartley’s yellow card will trigger a two-game ban while Australian ace Kisnorbo will be forced to sit out one match.

Both players will miss the Jambos’ trip to Kilmarnock on Sunday, March 7 - the game has been switched for the purposes of live television - with Hartley also being ruled out of the Tynecastle showdown with Rangers the following weekend.

Their absence comes at a crucial time for the Gorgie outfit as Levein attempts to consolidate the side’s third place in the league, Hearts going into tonight’s game in West Lothian with the chance to move nine points clear of nearest rivals Dunfermline in the race for Europe.

Confirmation of these latest suspensions to affect the Jambos comes after Levein hit out at criticism of the physical nature of his side.

The Tynecastle boss has been angered by such comments and said: "It irritates me a little when people say we are a big, strong team as if there was something wrong with that. We try to win matches - that is what football is all about.

"We don’t have the money to go out and buy world-class players so what we have to do is get the guys we do have to go out and work extremely hard, be as organised as they can be and get them hungry.

"If that manifests itself in players going out there trying to win tackles and headers, then great.

"That is what enables us to win matches and that is what this game is all about. We do try to play. We have got quality in the team and we are always looking to do better in terms of performances.

"We always want to put on a good show if we can."

Levein has injury worries ahead of tonight’s game, with Andy Kirk having joined Phil Stamp on the doubtful list.

The Englishman is struggling with a knee problem picked up against United and having had a chance to assess the midfielder after Saturday’s game, the Hearts boss is likely to err on the side of caution and leave him out with a view to Saturday’s trip to Dunfermline.

That could open the door for the return to action of Neil MacFarlane.

Kirk was hurt in training yesterday, the striker suffering a blow to his Achilles but Levein is hopeful the Northern Ireland internationalist will shrug off the knock in time to face the Lions.

Meanwhile, as revealed in the later edition of yesterday’s Evening News, defender Alan Maybury has been cleared by the SFA’s video review panel of any wrongdoing in an incident with Hibs’ Scott Brown in the recent Easter Road derby.

Taken from the Scotsman