Hearts won't recall Billy King in January

The 22-year-old is on a season-long loan at Inverness Caledonian Thistle and will not be back at Tynecastle until May.

Hearts plan to re-assess him in the summer after a full season of regular football in the Highlands. Head coach Robbie Neilson told the Evening News recently that he plans to sign a winger during the January transfer window. King, however, will stay in Inverness.

“Billy’s up there for the season,” confirmed Neilson. “I spoke to Richie Foran [Inverness manager] last week about him and he’s really pleased with him. He’s been playing games and doing well. It’s good for Billy to get game time. We wanted him to go and play and get experience of playing every week. Hopefully he’ll develop a wee bit because he needs physicality as well. Further down the line, we’ll bring him back and take a look at him again in pre-season.”

Sam Nicholson’s knee surgery means Hearts will enter the transfer market for a wide player in January. Nicholson is recovering well from his operation but won’t be under pressure to rush back before the winter break.

“He’s getting his brace extended a bit this week, which gives him more range of movement and gets his knee to 90 degrees. That will help him because he’s been pretty static for the last few weeks. We’re pleased how he’s improving,” said Neilson.

“He’s on schedule but we’re not going to rush him. The plan is to get him back after the winter break. There’s no point bringing him back for the sake of one or two games before January. We’ll give him more time,an extra two or three weeks, to make sure he is ready to go when he comes back.”