ELLIOT NEEDS GAMES - IVANAUSKAS

By Ronnie Esplin, PA Sport

Hearts head coach Valdas Ivanauskas will gamble by letting Calum Elliot go on loan to Motherwell despite being short of strikers.

The Gorgie boss was forced to field Jamie Mole as a lone forward against AEK Athens in their Champions League qualifying defeat in midweek after his three main strikers failed to make the starting line-up through injury.

Roman Bednar's injured foot prevented him from travelling while Michal Pospisil's dead leg ruled him out of even a place on the bench.

Edgaras Jankauskas was only fit to be a substitute due to a knock he was carrying.

To add to the Jambos' pre-match woes, Elliot, 19, went down with a virus which left 18-year-old Mole starting only his second game in a maroon shirt.

Ivanauskas was coy about the strength of his squad for the Bank of Scotland match against Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Tynecastle - and curiously said Elliot was included although the Scotland Under-19 player had trained with Motherwell in the morning - but admitted that Bednar is out again.

Pospisil will also miss the visit of the Highlanders while Elliot, whose loan deal at Fir Park takes him up until the end of the year, is set to play for the Steelmen against Falkirk.

Ivanauskas said: "We have a lot of problems but as I've said before Calum needs regular games, they are very important for a young player.

"Last season he played regularly but now there are so many strikers here.

"I can't understand that we had three strikers injured for one game, you would not think it was possible but that's football.

"But they are not so serious injuries and after the Inverness game we have two weeks before our next game and our injured players are coming back."

With his injury problems in mind, Ivanauskas claims victory over Inverness at Tynecastle is crucial before the two-week break for the European Championship qualifiers.

He added: "It is important to win because after the game there are a lot of players who will go away with their national teams.

"So, psychologically, it is very important that we get three points before the break."

Taken from sportinglife.com