Hearts stars Gerald Taylor and Calem Nieuwenhof are making good progress on their way back from serious injuries.
Taylor damaged knee ligaments against St Mirren in September, which proved to be Steven Naismith’s last game as Hearts manager.
With that, new boss Neil Critchley hasn’t been able to call upon the right-back who impressed on his Premiership debut against Rangers in August.
Critchley admits Taylor caught his eye when watching Hearts‘ early season games and reported to the Edinburgh Evening News that the Costa-Rican is back training on the grass.
He’s not kicking balls yet but the 23-year-old is moving in the right direction.
Gerald Taylor update
Critchley said: “Gerald took his first tentative steps on the pitch on Friday, which is a real bonus for him. He’s still a good, significant period away yet, but so far, so good.
“He’s had no setbacks and he’s moving in the direction. I still wouldn’t be expecting to see him in the near future. He’s not kicking balls yet, he is just doing everything without the ball so far.
“I watched the games he played and he did well, in particular his first game at home against Rangers, where he was up and down the line with real energy, athleticism and attacking intent.
“He was someone that caught my eye. Whenever you come into a new club, you want time to settle and adapt, and he’s not had that.
“He has been a miss but I also think that’s given Adam Forrester a chance to step forward, which has been brilliant for him.
“I think Dan (Oyegoke) has improved in the last few weeks. I think he’s taken big steps forward as well. He has been excellent so we’ve got some competition there.”
Calem Nieuwenhof’s progress
Meanwhile, Nieuwenhof has experienced a tough 2024. In March, the Aussie suffered a hamstring injury and hasn’t been seen on the pitch for Hearts since.
Critchley stopped short of providing a definitive timeline for the midfielder’s return but stressed his recovery efforts will now step up.
The Hearts boss said: “In the next few weeks, Calem will definitely step up his routine, the training every single day, and then that will be a conversation between the staff and him to see how he feels and where we think he’s at.
“We will keep monitoring his progress. I wouldn’t want to say it’ll be three weeks, four weeks, or whenever, it’s still going to be a few weeks away.
“But, yeah, so far, so good, and it’ll be nice to see him back involved with the squad and doing what he’s good at.”