Hearts can get even more potent

Hearts dispensed with Hamilton at New Douglas Park on Saturday by dint of two goals from Elliott, prompting Jefferies to express delight at how the Irishman and others have compensated for absent colleagues. He expects his side to be even more dangerous with everyone fit.

"With the strikers we have out we are coping with it quite well at the moment but we'd like to see them back. I think we'll be even more dangerous when we get them back," he said. "Kyle had his injection and rested over the weekend so we can assess him. Calum Elliot should be back training this week, big Obua should be okay as well.

"It's a fantastic run these boys have been on when you consider we've been missing Kyle for a number of weeks now. Celtic and Rangers are the only ones to have beaten us away from home, we've won every other game we've played. Not drawn them, won them.

"If we can win even half of our games between now and the split, it will make it difficult for any team to catch us. We've been talking about that. Let's get the third place confirmed and then we can go and enjoy it with no pressure on us. If we achieve it early it will be fantastic.

"Ryan Stevenson would have been in the team on Saturday with the strikers out.

"He came on the bus and felt unwell and I had to change it because I was going to leave Eggert Jonsson to next week. Stevenson couldn't make it so Rudi Skacel had to play as another striker."

Jefferies will endeavour to arrange a bounce match for the benefit of winger Andy Driver, who requires game time after his own long-term injury problems.

"Driver, you can see, is short of match fitness," continued the manager.

"He should have had a game last week but called off with a stomach bug.

"I'll have to try and get some sort of game where he can get 90 minutes under his belt. We are just feeding him in gradually just now.

"He is a quality player and there will come a time when he will go out there, have 15 or 20 minutes and you'll see he is back to his best.

"Then he'll be ready for a start. Same with Templeton, who I thought did okay when he came on."

Taken from the Scotsman