On way Jose

HEARTS head coach Graham Rix is confident Portuguese left-back Jose Goncalves will join his Tynecastle revolution inside the next 48 hours.

The 20-year-old, who plays for Swiss side FC Thun, has trained at Riccarton this week and is near to securing an immediate future in Edinburgh.

"Hopefully he is going to be tied up in the next couple of days. He has looked extremely impressive in training," said Rix.

The likely option for signing Goncalves would be a loan deal until the end of the season, however that news is tempered by Rix's fear that Czech striker Roman Bednar may not play again this season due to a persistent knee problem.

Bednar will return to consult medical specialists next week for a second opinion on the injury, which recurred in training last month, and may be told he requires another operation.

"If he plays again this season he'll be doing well," added Rix. "That could be the scenario. When he sees the specialists, they might say differently, and that's the way I want it to go because I don't want him out for the rest of the season.

"We have to be careful with Roman. He's pretty down at the moment and we have to keep him feeling involved. We are all keeping our fingers crossed for him that it's good news."

Bednar's attacking colleague Edgaras Jankauskas is making rapid progress with his hamstring injury and could return to first-team training as early as next week.

After limping out of the Scottish Cup victory over Kilmarnock earlier this month, it was anticipated that Hearts would be without Jankauskas for six to eight weeks, but the healing process has gone smoothly thus far.

"Jankauskas has started jogging and we are hopeful that he'll be joining in with the squad next week some time, which is good," beamed Rix.

"I thought he'd be out for a lot longer than that."

With captain Steven Pressley and midfielder Rudi Skacel suspended for tomorrow's trip to Kilmarnock, Rix will almost certainly call on Christophe Berra and new signing Neil McCann to fill the voids.

Skacel has flown home to the Czech Republic to visit family but will return to the Capital next week accompanied by his agent for discussions with Hearts officials on a long-term contract.

Portuguese midfielder Bruno Aguiar remains on trial at Riccarton and Rix is still holding on to the hope that a deal can be reached with Racing Genk to bring Mirsad Beslija to the club.

Hearts have also taken 16-year-old Canadian midfielder Joey Mello on trial.

There are 1700 tickets still on sale from the Tynecastle ticket office for Rugby Park tomorrow after Hearts fans snapped up more than 2300 for the away end.

Taken from the Scotsman