Hearts’ team news from their Premiership clash with Falkirk has sparked a surprise.
Derek McInnes has provided a Hearts injury update on Beni Baningime and Craig Gordon ahead of their clash with Falkirk.
Team lines delivered ahead of the Premiership clash provided two notable absentees, with Lawrence Shankland, Cammy Devlin, Stephen Kingsley and Oisin McEntee already amongst those injured. Influential midfielder Baningime wasn’t involved in the squad and back-up goalkeeper Gordon also didn’t make it, with Steve Clarke naming his latest Scotland squad within the next few weeks.
Speaking to Hearts TV ahead of the clash with ex-Jambos boss John McGlynn, McInnes confirmed a blow to Baningime in training prior to the game, and that isn’t likely to be anything major. He is expected to be back in the fold for next week, while Gordon has picked up a shoulder issue.
Hearts injury latest
McInnes said: “Unfortunately, Beni got injured on Friday, early on in the session. We gave him 24 hours; he wanted to have a fitness test this morning at Oriam. So, unfortunately for us, he wasn’t quite able to make it, which is a bit of a blow with Beni’s experience and the quality he brings to the team.
“We don’t think it is anything too serious. We think it is something that will settle over a few days and we imagine he be okay for next week. Unfortunately for us, he is not available today.
“Tomas Magnusson comes into that midfield with Ageu and Marc Leonard. We are looking to make sure we get on top of things in the middle of the park. I think it is is really important we impose ourselves in, and provide service to our wider players and, hopefully, we can try and play our game in their half a lot more than they would like us to.”
Derek McInnes on Craig Gordon and Hearts vs Falkirk
He added on Sportsound: “Craig hasn’t trained all week. He reported a shoulder injury, not the shoulder injury that’s been causing him problems in pre-season, it’s the other shoulder. So we kind of knew early part of the week that he was at risk and it hasn’t really got any better. I’m not sure how quickly that will settle. Hopefully it will settle soon enough and Craig can be considered again next week, and then therefore Scotland games.
“I am really proud of what the players have brought to this moment. Like everything in life, it’s the final part which everybody will remember. It’s something important for us at the business end of the season to try and be as strong as we can.
“Obviously we just want to really concentrate on my performances because that’s the biggest indicator of getting results and the biggest factor but the motivation is high. The fans have got a part to play, we don’t expect this to be straightforward today, we expect this to be a tough game because we know Falkirk are a team who like to be possession based, they’re having a good season themselves.”
