Hearts’ Scott Robinson winning fitness battle

By BARRY ANDERSON
Published on Wednesday 23 January 2013 12:01

HEARTS midfielder Scott Robinson has a good chance of being fit for Saturday’s Scottish Communities League Cup semi-final. He has trained this week after overcoming a knee injury and, provided he suffers no reaction, should be available to face Inverness.

Robinson was hurt in a tackle by Hibs captain James McPake in the Edinburgh derby earlier this month. He missed Saturday’s 4-1 defeat at Celtic Park as the injury was still causing too much pain, however he has trained this week and will be eager to play at Easter Road on Saturday.

Should he emerge unscathed from training today and tomorrow, the 20-year-old is expected to be included in Hearts’ squad for the semi-final. That would provide manager John McGlynn with a much-needed boost given both Darren Barr and Ryan Stevenson are unavailable this weekend due to suspension. McGlynn gave 19-year-old midfielder Callum Tapping his competitive Hearts debut against Celtic last Saturday, but the former Tottenham youth player is unlikely to play from the start in a semi-final due to lack of experience.

The manager, though, was happy with how Tapping handled his introduction at Celtic Park. “Callum came on for Dylan McGowan and he’s been doing well in the under-20s and in training,” said McGlynn. “It will be a good learning curve for him to come on in that environment and that atmosphere.

“He did okay. It would have been nice to bring him on in a winning team but he did reasonably well on the pitch.”

Taken from the Scotsman