Overview
- Hearts confirmed captain Lawrence Shankland sustained a hamstring strain in the Falkirk cup defeat and will be sidelined for six to eight weeks.
- Shankland is the Premiership’s leading scorer with 11 league goals and is expected to miss the Celtic match and potentially up to nine fixtures, including a trip to Rangers.
- The club is fast-tracking the pre-contract signing of Uganda forward Rogers Mato for this month, with paperwork and clearance being finalized and his availability for Sunday uncertain.
- Head coach Derek McInnes says the situation will prompt January recruitment, with Cammy Devlin already out for several weeks and Beni Baningime suspended for the Celtic game.
- McInnes has challenged the squad to respond at home against Celtic and indicated Hearts are pursuing further reinforcements after a separate bid was turned down.