By Barry Anderson
Copyright scotsman
Hearts have organised a closed-door friendly this week as they prepare for an inactive weekend with the Premiership paused. Premier Sports Cup quarter-final ties take precedence and the Edinburgh club are not involved having lost on penalties against St Mirren in the previous round. Instead, they will play a bounce match against Ayr United on Wednesday. The game is designed to give vital game time to players from both teams as respective managers Derek McInnes and Scott Brown seek to keep their squads as fit as possible for forthcoming league matches. Among the players expected to feature for Hearts are goalkeeper Craig Gordon, defender Jamie McCart, midfielders Calem Nieuwenhof and Tomas Magnusson, wingers Alan Forrest and Sabah Kerjota, plus strikers Elton Kabangu, James Wilson and Pierre Landry Kabore. Like Hearts, Ayr are not involved in this weekend’s cup action. They lost at Partick Thistle in the last-16 and are therefore without a game. They resume their Scottish Championship campaign next Tuesday night when they visit Dunfermline Athletic. Following Saturday’s 2-0 Premiership win over Rangers at Ibrox, Hearts do not play again competitively until Falkirk visit Tynecastle Park a week on Saturday. That fixture is the next opportunity for the Edinburgh club to continue an unbeaten league run which sees them currently joint-top of the table. McInnes stated after the victory in Glasgow that he is frustrated having to wait so long for another match. Hearts want to maintain momentum but this fortnight feels similar to an international break. “We’ve got a bounce game on Wednesday. The boys will get the weekend off. Next weekend will be tough,” admitted McInnes. “You don’t mind international breaks and not playing on a Saturday when there’s nobody playing, but when there’s other teams playing that way it’s tough. We’ll take it for what it is. We’ll let two or three of them recover from injuries and our full focus is on Falkirk again from Monday.” Gordon is pushing for a first-team return after four months out with an injury in the neck and shoulder area. He is keen to convince McInnes that he can be Hearts No.1 again, although there is intense competition for the position. Zander Clark had been first-choice this season before new signing Alexander Schwolow took his place at Ibrox, with Harry Stone also part of the first-team squad. Ryan Fulton and Liam McFarlane are recovering from injury in what is a heavily-populated goalkeeping department at Riccarton. Gordon’s aim is clear. “Keep training well and try to get in the manager’s thoughts to get a start,” he told the Hearts website this week. “That’s all I can do – keep doing everything I possibly can to show I’m the one the manager should be picking. That goes for all of us. It’s going to be good competition and we’ll see how it goes.” READ MORE: Major FIFA change impacts SPFL clubs and fans READ MORE: Kabangu fighting for recognition at Hearts
