Heart of Midlothian head coach Steven Naismith has revealed Kyosuke Tagawa has returned to full training ahead of Sunday's Viaplay Cup semi-final with Rangers.

The Japanese striker has had a frustrating start to his Hearts career having joined from FC Tokyo in the summer. He has made eight appearances with one start but has twice been ruled out for spells, first with an ankle knock and more recently with a hamstring issue. 

Naismith confirmed he took part in full training on Friday, while Alex Lowry was being monitored after suffering a head knock in the win over Livingston but is unavailable to face his parent club.

"Everybody else is fine," he told HeartsTV. "Kyosuke has been building up, that's the only one. Alex Lowry was assessed yesterday and today but obviously he is not going to be involved at the weekend anyway."

READ MORE: Kenneth Vargas: How he won Hearts admiration, liberating goal, Thor, loan deal

Tagawa, who scored his only goal for the club so far in the League Cup win over Partick Thistle, signed a three-year deal in the summer. Speaking to Hearts Standard last month, sporting director Joe Savage explained the 24-year-old's journey to the club.

"He might be one of those fans are on the fence about or negative about at the moment. I would say give him time. He’s 24 years old, he’s come from Japan, was in Portugal last year. He was going to sign for that Portuguese club if it wasn’t for them getting relegated. They were going to buy him for a million quid. He didn’t want to go and went back to Japan but he told FC Tokyo he wanted to leave.

"He didn’t do a pre-season so Kyosuke is playing catch up... He’s then had the injury. If you look at Tagawa’s data and stats. He runs away from the ball. Is he as fast as Josh Ginnelly? No he’s not, Gino is rapid. Tagawa is a No.9, wants to run away from the ball, get in behind. In my opinion he will come good."

To unlock all content including exclusive interviews with Joe Savage and Craig Gordon for as little as £1 for six months, you can subscribe HERE. As a subscriber you will be able to have your say and help shape the content we produce.