Hearts sure Lindsay can bolster them at the back
HEARTS are lining up a January loan move for Stoke City central defender Liam Lindsay. Austin MacPhee, who is still tasked with Tynecastle recruitment, watched Middlesbrough beat Stoke last Friday night. And Lindsay, who had a successful spell under Daniel
Stendel at Barnsley, was the player under the microscope as he played 90 minutes of a 2-1 defeat. Outgoing Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill is planning a clear-out of underachieving players as he battles to drag his new charges up from the bottom of the English
Championship. And Lindsay, 24, could be allowed to return to Scotland on loan despite only joining Stoke in a £2.5million deal from Barnsley in June. Centre-back has been a persistent issue for Hearts since long-term injuries to John Souttar and Clevid Dikamona and the former Partick Thistle player would be a welcome addition. Meanwhile, Hibernian boss Jack Ross is determined to see his side cause Hearts more problems before the January window opens. The Gorgie side sit bottom of the table heading into today’s lunchtime derby at Tynecastle. But they came from a goal down to win at Easter Road back in September, Uche Ikpeazu and then Aaron Hickey cancelling out Stevie Mallan’s opener. Ross knows his team can’t just rock up and expect the home punters to mutiny on derby day — unless they give them a reason to flip. ‘The one thing maybe, in these kinds of games, if there is any disharmony between the supporters and team, you often find adversity is maybe where they come together more — and a derby match might give them that,’ said Ross. ‘I think the
supporters might be more patient and more willing to get behind them because of who the opposition is. But, if we can start positively and turn it in our favour, then we will try to use that to our advantage.’ Hibs skipper David Gray has backed Hearts to avoid the drop — but doesn’t intend to give them a helping hand up today. Aware that Gorgie punters have begun booing their own side very early in games during the downward plunge to the foot of the table, Gray said: ‘I don’t think they’ll be there come the end of the season, to be honest. ‘They are where they are at the minute. We are where we are at the minute. Both clubs would probably say they are underachieving. ‘You can never say never. But you’d like to think that they’ve got some really good players who are just underachieving. ‘That doesn’t give you a right to win any game of football. We’ve experienced that ourselves this year, not hitting the heights we should have. ‘We will be concentrating on ourselves. In any derby, if we go there and start well, the home crowd can start to turn. ‘With them sitting bottom of the league, that can happen very easily. But it’s about how we start the game.’