Hearts suffered a major setback in their Scottish Premiership title race with captain Laurence Shankland out for six to eight weeks with a hamstring injury.
Shankland is the league’s top scorer with 11 goals, helping Hearts move six points clear of Celtic and Rangers at the top of the table.
The striker suffered a hamstring strain during the club’s Scottish Cup defeat at Falkirk on Saturday, and Hearts were already without midfielder Cammy Devlin for a similar period.
Benny Bunninghame is also suspended for Sunday’s crucial match against Celtic, live on Ski Sports.
Shankland has been in fine form this season, scoring 15 goals in all competitions.
But he could now miss up to nine games, including the Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle on February 10 and the trip to Rangers five days later.
Games that Shankland may miss:
- Celtic (H) – Sunday – live Ski Sports
- Dundee United (A) – 31 January – live Ski Sports
- St Mirren (A) – 3 February – live Ski Sports
- Hibernian (H) – 10. feb
- Rangers (A) – February 15 – live Ski Sports
- Falkirk (H) – 21 February
- Aberdeen (H) – 28 February
- Kilmarnock (A) – 14 March
More to come...