| Lee Wallace is getting ever closer to returning to first-team action. He made it to the subs bench for the wins over St Mirren and Hibs but managed to play 90 minutes of a friendly against Musselburgh Athletic on Tuesday. He may make his return appearance since suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury in Scotland's win over Liechtenstein in September when Hearts host St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup fourth round at Tynecastle. Jim Jefferies said: "He is a naturally fit guy and got up and down the park yesterday. He's been on the bench for the last two games and I would have used him if I needed to. He can play at the back, he can play wide left which is an advantage and I'd like to be in a position where I can bring him on gradually. There are various places he can be an asset to us. Tuesday's game will have helped him and he's in contention for consideration." The friendly also allowed David Obua, who came off the bench against the Buddies and was an unused replacement against Hibs, and Jason Thomson to get some action after recovering from injuries, while Craig Thomson and Ryan McGowan were also involved after being on the periphery of the first team. Jefferies went on: "It was good to get them involved. It was good to get the guys out on grass again and the main objective was to get them out in the fresh air, get air in their lungs again and have them working with the ball. There was a real mix of the young players and the senior players who needed a game. It was more like a training match but a worthwhile exercise nonetheless." |