Johnson set to answer Jam Tarts' midfield SOS

HEARTS assistant coach John McGlynn today admitted Lee Johnson may have to answer a Champions League SOS if Julien Brellier is ruled out of next week's second-round qualifier.

The Tynecastle outfit face Bosnians Siroki Brijeg on Wednesday with Brellier facing a race against time to recover from a hamstring strain and Paul Hartley already ruled out by a groin strain.

That leaves Valdas Ivanauskas facing a shortage of central midfielders and, while McGlynn conceded that Johnson may struggle again to win a regular first-team spot at Tynecastle this season, he may be called upon to bolster the side to face Siroki.

Johnson found himself frozen out of the starting XI last term and was left at home while the rest of the Hearts squad trained in Austria earlier this month.

McGlynn said: "Lee wasn't in Austria with us but, to be fair to him, he has worked very hard in training since we came back.

"He played a bit of the game against Osasuna the other night and then again he had the full 90 minutes against Livingston and played very well.

"The fact that Paul Hartley is out and that Julien could also be out means that we don't have a lot of central midfield players. It could be a chance for him to come back in and play some first-team football, which is what he wants to be doing week-in, week-out.

"Obviously he was left here while we were away on pre-season training, but he is not out of the picture entirely, nothing is dead and buried just yet.

"We're waiting for an update on Julien at the moment, it's only 48 hours after the injury really so we will be speaking to the physio over the next few days to see how he is. It was a hamstring problem and we are quite concerned about it, but it is one of those injuries where you just have to wait and see.

"You have got to be careful with that kind of injury though and make sure you don't bring the player back too soon."

McGlynn admitted that Calum Elliot is almost certain to miss the Siroki clash after limping out of Scotland Under-19s European Championship match against Spain.

The Hearts striker went off five minutes into the second half in Poland last night after suffering a recurrence of a hamstring injury

McGlynn added: "He went out there with a hamstring injury but they thought he was okay to play last night and he has obviously re-injured himself.

"We will have to wait and see how he is, we will assess him when he comes back from Poland.

"It is a shame because he's played well in the pre-season games. He is only a young lad and obviously he would be desperate to play in a Champions League qualifier."

Siroki manager Ivica Barbaric insists his side will make life difficult for Hearts when they clash at

Murrayfield on Wednesday and again in the second leg away on Wednesday, August 2 , both legs being shown live by BBC Scotland. Barbaric said: "If we can get a good result in Edinburgh, I know they won't enjoy travelling to our ground. Hearts are a very good team and we know it will be tough for us - no-one expects us to win. But we have been getting better and I believe we will be a difficult side to beat."

Meanwhile, Neil McCann continued his comeback from a knee injury in last night's 2-1 win over Livingston at .

The winger came on with half an hour remaining against Osasuna and managed a further 45 minutes against John Robertson's men. Mirsad Beslija and Andrew Neill scored for Hearts while Livingston's reply coming from Steven Weir - brother of former Jambos striker Graham.

McGlynn said: "Neil is really hungry to play and to see him feature in the last two games has been a big boost for everyone."

Taken from the Scotsman