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Crocked Naismith misses another Celtic clash

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Steven Naismith will be missing from the Hearts side to face Celtic tonight.

The striker was given a four year contract in the summer by Craig Levein but has only managed to start five matches since signing his bumper deal.

Last season Naismith lasted 45 minutes of the February defeat from Celtic and was unable to recover in time to play in the Scottish Cup Final. In October he limped out of the League Cup semi-final at Murrayfield after eight minutes before being out of action for two months.

New Hearts boss Daniel Stendel watched his side lose 1-0 at home to St Johnstone on Saturday but has little option other than to go with the same players tonight for the visit of the champions to Gorgie.

Stendel told The Sun:

We hope Steven Naismith is an option for Saturday’s game but at the moment we have no idea when Peter Haring will come back.

Conor Washington is not so close and it’s similar with John Souttar. I only see him in the morning in the medical room.

The medical staff are working hard to change the situation. But a lot of important players have long-term injuries, and at the moment we have no idea if they can play in January. This is a big question mark for us, especially for the transfer window coming up.

After tonight’s match Hearts travel to Hamilton on Saturday before closing 2019 with home fixtures against Hibs and Aberdeen.

With seven points from 24 from their home matches Tynecastle has been far from a fortress this season.

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