Heart of Midlothian hope to be further forward in their pursuit of a right-back in the "next week or so".

Hearts head coach Steven Naismith has made the position a priority in the January transfer window with the team light in the area with Odel Offiah having returned to Brighton & Hove Albion and Nathaniel Atkinson most likely at the Asian Cup with Australia until next month.

The club have time on their side with the winter break. They are not back in Premiership action until January 23 but in an ideal world the deal is done "sooner rather than later".

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"I have said consistently that the right-back area is something we need to strengthen," Naismith said. "Ideally we will get them in sooner rather than later. Hopefully in the next week or so we will have more information of the exact target or two that we are looking for.

"We will take it from there but in football, it’s rarely that straightforward."

Hearts go into the winter break sitting third in the Premiership with a five-point lead over Kilmarnock. It follows a fruitful but intense period that saw the team play nine matches - winning six - between the end of November and the start of January.

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Naismith has opted against a warm-weather training camp with players given more time off. The club will likely play one friendly as part of their return before the Scottish Cup tie with The Spartans on January 20 and Dundee at home in the league three days later. 

"The players will get some time off and I think they need it," he explained. "We will give them an extended time off, rather than coming back for a camp. I don’t think that would be value for money or beneficial for the players.

"When we come back we will have a block of four days that are really tough with a game which will get everybody back up to speed. And then we have got three games in a week in our first week back, which will be good for us getting back into the rhythm of games."