Injuries mount for Levein

MARK BONTHRONE

HEARTS boss Craig Levein today confirmed that he will be without both Mark de Vries and Paul Hartley for Saturday’s crunch Euro showdown with Dunfermline.

Phil Stamp is also struggling for the trip to East End Park but with De Vries, Hartley, Scott Severin and Steven Boyack already ruled out of the game a late decision will be made on the former Middlesbrough man who is receiving treatment for a knee injury.

Levein would have preferred to have rested Stamp in Tuesday night’s 3-2 victory over Livingston but an injury to former Hibs man Hartley forced him to throw the Englishman into action after just 20 minutes.

With Stamp a driving force in the Jambos’ midfield and so many key players already out for the weekend, he could be asked to play through the pain barrier as the Tynecastle outfit look to open up a 12-point gap over the Pars.

"De Vries and Hartley definitely won’t make it," Levein revealed.

"Paul has a groin problem while Mark is struggling with a calf injury. It’s not ideal going into a game like this but it’s just one of those things.

"I’m not sure of the extent of either injury yet but Paul is suspended for the following game regardless. We will have a better idea in the coming days.

"I’m more hopeful about Phil and he is receiving treatment at the moment to try and solve the problem.

"We have four recognised first team players definitely out of the game already so we would obviously be keen to have Phil available for the game as he is a very important player for us."

Meanwhile, Levein has revealed that the fact his players have already experienced Dunfermline’s artificial surface once this season should stand them in good stead for the weekend.

The Jambos lost 2-1 in Fife at the start of December despite turning in one of their best performance of the season and while the pitch may have held fears for some players first time round he insists there will be no such problem on Saturday.

"The fact we have played there already will help a bit," he said.

"I thought we actually played very well there on our last visit and were quite unlucky. If we can play in a similar way I would be happy. We certainly aren’t worried at all about the pitch."

• HEARTS midfielder Paul Hartley has picked up a one-match ban, not two as previously suggested by the SFA.

Hartley will consequently miss the SPL game against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park a week on Sunday but will be free to face Rangers at Tynecastle the following weekend.

Taken from the Scotsman