GORDON SET TO RETURN FOR DERBY

Hearts head coach Valdas Ivanauskas is set to restore goalkeeper Craig Gordon to his team for the Bank of Scotland Premier League visit of Hibernian on Boxing Day.

The Tynecastle captain was left on the bench for the 1-0 win at Dundee United where Steve Banks deputised.

The 23-year-old attended a club disciplinary hearing this week over his part in ex-skipper Steven Pressley's criticism of the regime of majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov on October 27.

Gordon and midfielder Paul Hartley flanked Pressley as he revealed "significant unrest" in the dressing room.

The defender has since left the club while Hartley was dropped to the bench for the defeat by Aberdeen last week following his own hearing.

But, despite Gordon warming up at Tannadice in just a t-shirt, the Hearts boss insists he wanted to allow the Scotland international to recuperate after feeling unwell this morning.

Ivanauskas said: "Craig was not feeling so good in the morning and we have decided to give him a rest because, in three days, it is the derby game."

When asked when he knew Gordon would not be able to play against United, Ivanauskas said:

"In the morning, after breakfast".

The Lithuanian was then quizzed over when he would be sure if Hearts first-choice goalkeeper would be able to play against Hibs, to which he responded: "I hope he is OK tomorrow."

But, despite further prompting, Ivanauskas would not elaborate on the situation, stating: "I have given you my opinion, do you have any other questions?"

Ivanauskas did praise Banks for his efforts though, as the stand-in goalkeeper produced two brilliant late saves to keep out free-kicks from Barry Robson.

The Hearts boss said: "He was good, especially for the last 15 to 20 minutes and it is great to have two experienced goalkeepers."

Hartley scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot in the 55th minute after United defender Stuart Duff handled inside the area.

The Hearts midfielder had been expected to take over the captaincy from Gordon but the honour went to defender Christophe Berra.

But, again, the Hearts boss remained non-committal on his choice of skipper, saying only: "Christophe Berra was the captain today."

Meanwhile, Dundee United manager Craig Levein believes a lack of punch up front was the reason why his side failed to breach the Hearts defence.

The Tannadice club were without top goalscorer Noel Hunt due to an ankle injury and were forced to play for most of the match with 17-year-old David Goodwillie in a lone role in attack.

However, Levein refused to be critical of his young striker, despite admitting the more experienced Collin Samuel might have been better suited to the position.

He said: "It is not a surprise to me that we missed our strikers and I am not looking at the game wondering how we never got something from it, I know the reason for that.

"I have to be careful of myself or anybody else being critical of young Goodwillie, though, because he is not ready and I am the one who is putting him in there.

"In hindsight, it might have been better playing Samuel through the middle, because the young lad has been asked to do a lot and he is talented, but he is not ready to take that kind of weight on his shoulders."

Taken from sportinglife.com