Hearts: Huge treble boost for club as Craig Halkett opens up on his absence

It is understandable that Robbie Neilson is looking forward to this weekend’s trip to Paisley with more optimism, hopeful that his team can put the recent dip in performance levels and results behind them.

Craig Halkett has been missed at the heart of the Gorgie backline since picking up a hamstring injury against Celtic last month, and in the six games since the team have won just one of their five league matches and only just scraped through to the Scottish Cup quarter-finals courtesy of a penalty shoot-out against Livingston.

But as they face a St Mirren side who have been performing well of late but have had to adapt to managerial change as Stephen Robinson replaced Jim Goodwin, the Hearts boss anticipates an improved display from his third-placed side as they attempt to stretch their current nine-point advantage over the rest of the Premiership.

With Halkett available to slip into a backline that had proved so consistent earlier in the season but has faltered due to constant chopping a changing as Michael Smith, John Souttar and Halkett all dealt with knocks, there is a belief that they can again provide a solid foundation that the men in front of them can build on.

Last weekend, the defence was undermined further by the absence of Craig Gordon and Liam Boyce because of covid.

All are available again for Saturday’s match, imbuing the squad with greater experience, quality and leadership, according to Neilson.

"Getting the two Craigs and Liam back will be a big boost,” he said. “We've missed a number of key players in the last few weeks. We had John [Souttar] out, Michael Smith out, Boyce out, Halkett and then Gordon.

"We don't have a huge squad so when we lose these key players it can make a big difference.

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