Robbie Neilson still hopes to have John Souttar back before the end of the season.
The centre-half joins Rangers in the summer and may have played his final game for Hearts.
Neilson, though, is praying the Scotland cap returns in time for the Scottish Cup Final next month.
He also has confidence Michael Smith will return soon.
Neilson told the Edinburgh Evening News: “Michael is back on the pitch doing some running so he won’t be far away. I’d expect him back available in the next couple of weeks.
“John is the same. He isn’t out running but he has been doing some gym work, some jumping and bike work. It will be two or three weeks until he is back. If we can get those two back playing it will be a big lift for all of us."
Hearts finished their semi-final win over Hibs with a second string defence that saw Toby Sibbick and Taylor Moore at centre back after injuries to Halkett and Stephen Kingsley meant they had to move to a back four.
But Neilson has full trust in both players and believes they have the experience to help the Tynecastle men over the next few weeks.
He said: “We don’t have a big squad but we have a squad of really good players. Taylor has played a lot of games in the English Championship and League One so he is a very experienced player. You can call on him whenever you need to bring him in.
“Sibbick is the same, he has also played a fair bit in those English leagues. We have a way of playing so the boys know what they need to do in one position or another. I was more than confident seeing them on the pitch at the weekend that they would help us get the job done.”
