No need to panic over Elliott's substitution

Jim Jefferies is hopeful new signing Stephen Elliott will be fit for Hearts' trip to Hamilton on Saturday despite the striker going off injured in Tuesday night's closed-door clash with East Fife in Methil. The Republic of Ireland international, who made his debut from the bench in the weekend draw with St Johnstone at Tynecastle, was replaced during the 2-0 victory after complaining of a hamstring problem. Trialist Jonathan Toto was on hand to get his name on the scoresheet next to both goals.

Jefferies claims that Elliott’s substitution was simply precautionary. He said: "He thought he had maybe tweaked something and so we decided to take him off.  It was disappointing for him as he had been looking sharper.  It's nothing drastic and he'll be in for treatment today.  Fingers crossed he will be fine for Saturday."

Jefferies was also glad to see striker Kevin Kyle come through the game unscathed. He said: "You could see he needed the game and I'm sure he'll benefit from it.  The game was quite competitive and we could have scored a few more."