Heart of Midlothian will be without a trio of first-team players for the trip to Celtic Park on Saturday.

Liam Boyce, Barrie McKay and Yutaro Oda have all joined Calem Nieuwenhof on the sidelines.

The Northern Irishman sustained an injury in the 1-0 loss to Viktoria Plzen at Tynecastle Park in the Europa League play-off and missed the defeat to Dundee United. He was on the training pitch on Friday but not working with the first-team group.

McKay and Oda have ankle and hamstring issues respectively but neither are thought to be serious.

Meanwhile, Kenneth Vargas is fit following his return from international duty with Costa Rica and has trained the last two days.

The forward didn't feature in either of his country's matches. He missed the win over Guadeloupe due to a small injury issue and was absent for the trip to Guatemala because of a registration error.

The lack of game time for Los Ticos wasn't a huge issue for Steven Naismith.

"No, I think he should be grateful to get in the squad," he explained. "It’s a competitive squad to get into first of all and he's also young. He's got to understand where he sits within the national set-up.

"Every opportunity you get to go away internationally, even if you don't play, is an opportunity to plant a seed with the manager. We've got a few in that category.

"James Wilson went away with the older age group, he was one of the youngest in the 19s age group and he didn't get a lot of minutes. But see it for what it is. Don't have the frustration of not playing.

"That's generally the conversation I have before players go away more than when they come back. I think to be at his age in and around the national team is great.

"For us, it's frustrating that he doesn't play but Kenneth is a receptive young player that is desperate to get as high as he can. So any frustration he has got, I'm sure he'll take it onto the pitch and take advantage."

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Frankie Kent is fine after pulling up with an issue at the end of the Dundee United game while Beni Baningime is available for selection following his own injury troubles. The midfielder has not featured since last season.

He featured in a behind-closed-doors match and Naismith expressed his delight at having him back fit.

"I think he was close for Dundee United," he said. "So that two weeks he's been back, you’d class him as being fully fit and available.

"It's the area of the pitch where I think we've missed him and Calem massively at the start of the season. They were two of our most consistent and best performers last season and them not being in the team probably hasn't helped the new players.

"It’s brilliant to have Beni back, he's a good character as well as a fantastic player. That calmness on the ball when they're making the right chances and passes, he's one of the best at the club at it."