Stephen Humphrys haunts Hearts in Wigan pre-season clash but 2 key Tynecastle stars return from injury

Stephen Humphrys came back to haunt Hearts as Wigan came out on top in a 3-0 friendly win this afternoon.

The teams went head to head for 120 minutes south of the border after agreeing to separate the closed doors clash into four 30-minute segments. Striker Humphrys, who spent last season on loan at Tynecastle from the Latics, got on the score sheet with a fine curled finish either side of strikes from Charlie Hughes and Scott Smith.

There was encouragement from a Hearts perspective with both midfielder Beni Baningime and striker Liam Boyce featuring for 60 minutes as they continue their comebacks from ACL injuries. Former Manchester United youth goalkeeper Ben Amos was in fine form to deny the Northern Irish striker and Hearts missed a number of opportunities to get themselves on the scoreboard throughout proceedings, notably through Alan Forrest, Lawrence Shankland and young Makenzie Kirk.

Rookie goalkeeper Harry Stone started the match with Zander Clark still injured. New recruit Michael McGovern was not available.

Hearts First XI (60 minutes): Stone, Atkinson (Rathie 60’), Sibbick, Rowles (Neilson 60’), Cochrane, Wilson (Dall 60’), Baningime (Denholm 60’), Forrest (Smith 60’), Devlin (Haring 60’), Grant (Boyce 60’), Shankland Hearts Second XI (60 minutes): Stone (McFarlane 90’), Rathie, Sibbick (Flatman 90’), Neilson, Cochrane (Sandilands 90’), Haring, Denholm, Dall, Boyce, Smith, Shankland (Kirk 90’)

READ NEXT