WE WON'T GO DOWN ROMAN ROAD AGAIN

COACH John McGlynn insists Hearts are determined not to rush Neil McCann back after seeing Roman Bednar return too soon following a knee injury.

The Scotland winger is still weeks away from a return to first-team duty even though head coach Graham Rix hinted a fortnight ago he could be available this month.

McCann, who rejoined the club in January, suffered medial-ligament damage on his debut against Kilmarnock.

Striker Bednar now looks to have overcome a knee injury which has dogged him since an operation in September.

The Czech featured as a second-half substitute in the 3-0 win over Motherwell at the weekend after his initial comeback in November led to afurther spell on the sidelines.

And McGlynn admits they won't rush into throwing McCann back into the fray too quickly.

He said: "Neil has been out for about four weeks already and it was thought he would be out for six-to-eight weeks.

"I don't think he is that far away but we can't rush this thing.

"The last thing we want is for him to come back and aggravate it. We saw what happened to Roman when he came back from his injury."

While McCann has no chance of featuring in Saturday's televised Scottish Cup quarter-final clash with Partick Thistle, strikerMichal Pospisil could be available.

The Czech player received a knock to the side of his eye in Tuesday's reserve clash with Motherwell and needed stitches.

McGlynn added: "Michal took a knock to his eye and it was quite a bad one. I wouldn't say he is out of the game this weekend but we will seek advice from the medical staff."

Taken from the Daily Record