Robbie Neilson admitted he might make one or two changes for Inverness tomorrow, but his squad depth means that it’ll still be a strong Hearts team.
Josh Ginnelly won’t return after missing last week’s Scottish Cup semi-final win over Hibs, while Jamie Walker and Jordan Roberts will be assessed after picking up knocks.
However, Peter Haring and Steven Naismith are ready to start after their return to action has been carefully managed from the bench up until now.
Both came on and swung last week’s Hampden derby in Hearts’ favour, and are both in line to be named in tomorrow’s starting XI.
However, with the focus now back on winning the league, there won’t be wholesale changes even after a number of Neilson’s squad played 120 minutes a week ago.
“We still need to go as strong as we can,” he said. “There will be one or two changes with a few boys carrying wee knocks, but nothing major.
"It's always good as a manager when you have a strong bench that can influence the game.
“In bigger games, some players start to tire after 50 or 60 minutes, even mentally. Being able to bring a couple of guys on to make your team better is important.
"You can usually judge the strength of a team by its bench. It's alright having 11 good starters but if you've got nothing behind them then it can be difficult.
“We are lucky we have a few boys who can add value to the team.
"Both of them [Haring and naismith] are available to start. They played 60 minutes on Saturday so they will be fine for the weekend.
“We play Saturday-Tuesday so they will definitely start in one of those matches.”
Neilson is determined to avoid a Hampden hangover and maintain the Jambos’ 100 per cent start to the Championship season.
To that end, he told the players almost immediately to forget about their derby exploits and focus on the visit of John Robertson’s team.
"We had a great result last week but ultimately we are here to win the league,” he said.
“This is another league game coming up against Inverness, who are one of our main competitors this season. We have to make sure we get the three points.
"We spoke as soon as we came back in about forgetting about the Hibs game. You get a pat on the back but then you move on to the next three points.
"It will be a hard game, a different one from the Hibs game. The Hibs tie was two teams going gung-ho but Inverness gave us a tough game in the Betfred Cup.
“They made it difficult for us and we managed to win 1-0 with a penalty so we know it's going to be another hard game.
“The league is the priority. Getting to the cup final is brilliant but it's done now. I think we have eight games in between so we have to make sure we keep winning. That starts on Saturday.”
