Armand Gnanduillet would have started for Hearts this afternoon.
Robbie Neilson explained the French striker would have led the line for the Jambos against Celtic in this afternoon’s Premier Sports Cup clash this afternoon.
But he misses out in order to attend to a family issue that’s arisen.
He said: “We were actually planning to start Armand Gnanduillet today but he’s got a family issue so he misses out.
“Josh Ginnelly had a bug and we didn’t feel he’d be ready to start the game so we made a wee alteration to the front line.
“But we come here in good confidence. We’re a strong team but it's the ultimate challenge for us this season so far.”
Neilson also addressed John Souttar’ s contract situation after revealing last week that talks over a new one had begun with the Scotland defender.
Souttar’s current contract is up next summer but has missed a lot of football due to injury in recent seasons.
‘We’re still talking to John,” Neilson told BBC Scotland. “We know that he’s a top player and is one of our key players.
“He’s had a difficult period with injury and is now just getting himself back to full fitness. Our job is to get him out there playing, keep him fit and hopefully get him tied up to a longer deal.”
Neilson also confirmed he’s still looking to add defenders and strikers to his squad during the transfer window.
He added: “We’re working away. We’ve got Cammy Devlin coming in from Australia hopefully in the next ten days and then we’re still looking to strengthen at the back and up front.”
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