CALDERWOOD HOPING TO CASH IN ON THE HEARTS UNCERTAINTY

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood hopes Hearts' strength in depth could work in his side's favour when the teams meet at Pittodrie on Sunday.

The Jambos beat Alloa 4-0 on Wednesday in the League Cup, with a completely different starting XI from the one which saw off Motherwell 1-0 in the SPL on Sunday.

Calderwood has no idea how the Edinburgh outfit will line up but hopes to exploit similar confusion in the Tynecastle squad.

Calderwood said: "You don't know what is going on at Hearts half the time, so it is difficult to judge them. They have a massive squad, which is great sometimes. But some players will be unhappy they aren't getting games. Maybe that can help us.

"They have brought in these players with the aim of going a bit further in Europe and that backfired on them when they were drawn to play AEK Athens. They then got a horrible tie against Sparta Prague, probably one of the hardest they could have been given in the Uefa Cup.

"It has been hard for them and they have probably played twice a week since the start of the season. They did well last season but are going through a difficult phase.

"It will be a signal of our intent if we can beat them but it won't be an easy match for either team."

After several injuries and suspensions, there is little doubt Hearts are still some way from hitting their peak. But Calderwood insists the loss of two key players from last season's squad were significant.

He said: "Hearts have fighting qualities but are missing Rudi Skacel and Andy Webster. I don't want to take anything away from Christophe Berra but Webster and Steven Pressley were really strong as a partnership at the back.

"Paul Hartley has been out for a while this season, which is another setback for them. Hearts really haven't had a settled team. I hope it stays like that for the next couple of days."

Calderwood knows how vital it will be to get a positive result on Sunday. He feels Aberdeen's remaining fixtures in the first third of games prior to the league's split will play a big part in determining the club's fate.

Calderwood said: "Celtic have slipped up a couple of times and Rangers have dropped more points than they did in the first few games last season, so everyone is still quite close. The next five or six weeks will be important."

Meanwhile, Aberdeen are still waiting to be informed if two league games will be switched to Friday nights by the SPL. The October 28 home tie against Hibs could be moved forward a day along with the trip to Inverness which is scheduled to be played on November 4.

The SPL is keen on Friday night football to cater for broadcaster Setanta's increased live coverage this season, although police forces across the country have expressed concern. A spokesman for the league said last night: "We're aware that clubs and supporters need plenty of notice to get their travel plans in place but we always stress fixtures are subject to change. A number of fixtures are being looked at as potentially being moved but no decisions have been taken."