Hearts give team news v St Mirren and detail injury blow

In under 24 hours, Hearts will host St Mirren at Tynecastle in the hope of securing third place in the league for Christmas. While the Jambos currently occupy the spot, they do so merely on goal difference with the Buddies hoping to steal it back.

The Jambos come into the match off the back of a 2-0 win over Celtic in Glasgow with momentum heavily in their favour but as the Paisley Saints currently match the league points with Hearts, it may not take much for them to take back third place.

The first half of this season has been exceptionally injury plagued for the Jambos and in the past few weeks, they have finally been able to welcome back the likes of Craig Halkett, Barrie McKay and Nathaniel Atkinson. However, this does not mean their medical room is empty.

Hearts are never without their injury concerns at present with last week's star man in midfield now set for a period on the sidelines. Speaking in the pre-match press conference Naismith revealed: "Jorge Grant is out; he’s got the same kind of injury that Cammy Devlin has. He’ll miss the next couple but I’m hopeful he’ll be involved again before the break.

“(Liam Boyce) is approaching the final stages (of his recovery) but he’s not one that we want to push until we’re comfortable with it. I’ve been there myself as a player where you can rule yourself out for months if you don’t tread carefully.”

There is, however, still positivity coming from Riccarton with Naismith revealing: “Alex Lowry is back in training. “Kingsley came off last week but is back training."

Alex Lowry has missed the last couple of matches through a back issue and Stephen Kingsley was taken off after scoring the second goal against Celtic. Kingsley has been plagued with a groin injury but after his performance last weekend, the 29-year-old defender will be desperate to make an impact once again in front of a home crowd.