Hearts set to be without 6 first-team stars for Livi clash

It was confirmed on Saturday that Barrie McKay had joined Cammy Devlin, Jorge Grant and Liam Boyce on the sidelines due to a knock suffered toward the end of the 1-0 win over Hibs.

All four are set to miss the short trip to West Lothian. Boyce has been absent for the last six matches after picking up an injury in the win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. Jorge Grant has suffered a similar injury to the one sustained by both Nathaniel Atkinson and Cammy Devlin this campaign.

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There is good news with Beni Baningime set to return. The midfielder received treatment in the closing stages of the derby and was rested at the weekend.

"Beni is not injured, it was more that he was feeling really fatigued," Naismith said. "With him being out for such a long period, we didn’t want to risk him breaking down. Baz took a knock the other night and it didn’t seem too serious, but he has had some swelling. He has had a scan and we are still waiting to hear back from the specialist about the extent of it. He won’t be available for Tuesday. Beni will be back involved."

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Naismith will also be without Kye Rowles and Atkinson. Both have been called up to the Australian national team squad for the Asian Cup which begins on January 12. They fly out prior to the final pre-winter break fixture. If the Socceroos, who are in a group with Uzbekistan, Syria and India, progress to the final on February 10 they will miss six Hearts matches.

"It'll be bittersweet but hopefully we can go on a long run," Rowles said. "I have full faith in all the [Hearts] boys. We've got everyone pretty much coming back now and this little free time in January is a nice healthy block for the boys in the physio room to get back out. The ranks should be stocked up again."