Heart of Midlothian head coach Steven Naismith has confirmed that midfielder Cammy Devlin and striker Kyosuke Tagawa will return to the matchday squad for the first Edinburgh derby of the season, while left-back Alex Cochrane has returned to training.
Devlin missed last weekend's 1-0 win over Ross County in Dingwall and the second half of the 2-1 victory over Kilmarnock due to a bout of sickness, but the Australian returned to full training earlier this week. Tagawa, meanwhile, resumed training last week after suffering an ankle knock during the 1-0 loss to Motherwell last month.
Cochrane has also returned to training but Saturday's derby will likely come too soon for the full-back, who was expected to be out for six weeks after injuring his ankle during a training session in mid-September.
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"It's a bit better than it was last week," Naismith told Hearts TV when asked about the squad's fitness ahead of the match at Tynecastle.
"We’ve got Cammy Devlin back and Kyosuke Tagawa is back. Alex Cochrane is back on the training pitch. We have got a few bodies back, which is nice to have that option."
Yutaro Oda is still believed to be a couple of weeks away from a return to action, while long-term absentees Craig Gordon and Craig Halkett continue to rebuild their fitness but a return to the matchday squad is unlikely to occur before next month. Barrie McKay and Nathaniel Atkinson, meanwhile, remain out for the foreseeable.
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