HARTLEY RETURN MAY HAVE TO WAIT

Hearts will resist the temptation to rush midfielder Paul Hartley back into action.

The Scotland international played in a practice game against Gretna on Tuesday after being troubled by a groin injury throughout pre-season training.

But, while his return is encouraging news for the club, the Bank of Scotland Premier League trip to Rangers and the Champions League qualifier at AEK Athens next Wednesday may be too soon for the 29-year-old to return to the first team.

Hearts assistant coach John McGlynn told the Edinburgh Evening News: "It was a relief for everyone to see him back playing again, he was spraying passes about the park and set up Jamie Mole for our second goal, but I would have thought it might be a bit too soon for him to play against Rangers.

"He played 45 minutes against Gretna and was quite tired afterwards and Saturday's game at Ibrox will be a completely different tempo.

"We don't want to rush him back and harm his recovery, he's not had a pre-season, so we have to take all of that into consideration.

"He's a big player, a very important player for us and clearly we need him back as soon as possible, he adds so much more to our midfield. It's about getting the balance right and Paul certainly does that."

The former St Johnstone and Hibernian player is also remaining cautious, adding: "The game went very well.

"I am still trying to catch up on my fitness but I was pretty pleased with my first game in three months.

"I will see how it feels over the next couple of days and try to step up the training a lot more.

"We have this game on Saturday and Athens on Wednesday but might be a bit soon to be thrown into a game like that after 45 minutes."

Taken from sportinglife.com