Neil Critchley excited to have experienced defenders back in contention

Hearts boss Neil Critchley is relishing the prospect of having an array of experienced defenders back in contention ahead of what he hopes can be “a really good end to the season”.

Craig Halkett returned to the squad for last weekend’s defeat while fellow centre-backs Jamie McCart, Frankie Kent and Stephen Kingsley are all back in full training and knocking on the door for involvement after their respective lay-offs.

With Costa Rican right-back Gerald Taylor the only senior player currently sidelined, Critchley is upbeat about the way his squad is shaping up as they bid to secure their William Hill Premiership top-six place and reach the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup final in the coming weeks.

“The squad’s looking really healthy, other than Gerald,” the manager reported ahead of Sunday’s clash with Dundee United. “Craig Halkett was on the bench last week against Celtic, Frankie Kent’s trained this week, Stephen Kingsley was ill at the start of the week, but he was out training today.

“Jamie’s trained this week, no complications, no issues. We just then have to decide whether he feels as though he’s done enough, and we’ll speak to our medical team and make that decision.

“They’ve been out on the grass, joining in with the squad and training. It’s nice to have their presence on the pitch, their experience and seniority back into the group.

“They’ve got good voices around the dressing room, they add a lot to the group. You can see how keen they are to be involved, because I think they sense that we could be in for a really good end to the season.

“We’ve got lots of bodies, numbers, strength in depth, and, unfortunately, I’m going to be disappointing a few people in the next few games.”

Critchley took over at Hearts in October, when they were two points adrift at the foot of the table after eight league games.

The former Blackpool and QPR boss is heartened by the fact his side are now up to sixth and have their top-six fate in their own hands ahead of pre-split fixtures against United and away to Motherwell, who – along with St Mirren – are a point behind them.

“It’s in our own hands, that’s all you can ask for,” he said. “Hopefully, after this round of games, it’s still in our hands. We play on Sunday, other teams play before us, so we’ll know where we are and what we need to do.

“I think we had two points after eight games. To be where we are now, there’s been progress, but we’re not stopping. There’s still plenty of points to play for, and we want to be in the top six and playing at the top end of this league every single season.”