Watch broadband TV highlights of this weekend's draw with Celtic on Hearts World now!

View news from the Hearts News Centre on your mobile for free - click here!

Hearts' injury concerns have eased with the news that defender Christos Karipidis is nearing a return to first-team training.

The Greek star underwent knee surgery some weeks ago but is recovering well under the watchful eye of physio Davie Henderson and is hoping to soon be pressing for first-team involvement again.

"Things have gone well and I have a programme of exercise to follow," he told Hearts News Today.

"That will be stepped up shortly and hopefully it won't be too long before I am back in contention."

Christos' progress is a further boost to sport director Anatoly Korobochka and assistant coach Stephen Frail, who are also hoping to have Neil McCann back in full training shortly, the midfielder having surprised many with his recovery from a horrific leg break earlier this season.

"Christos has been doing his rehab and shouldn't be far away from returning to training, while Neil has also bee doing very well and is looking good," said Stephen.

"We will be getting them back at an important time of the season, which is good."

Stephen, meanwhile, is hopeful that tomorrow's SPL Reserve League clash with Gretna goes ahead at Raydale Park, with a number of first-team players pencilled in for involvement.

"We are waiting to hear back from them. The U19s' match was called off on Saturday because of the pitch but hopefully tomorrow's match goes ahead as it will be a chance to give the likes of Calum Elliot, Saulius Mikoliunas, Deividas Cesnauskis and Lee Wallace a run out."

Reflecting on the 1-1 draw with Celtic on Saturday, Stephen added: "It was a decent point, although it would have been a different game had Audrius scored in the first few minutes.

"The pleasing thing was that we kept going after going behind and got our reward late on."

Meanwhile, hundreds of entries have been received from fans for their Carling Man of the Match nomination against Celtic and supporters have until 5pm to cast their vote.

Click here to vote for your Carling Man of the Match - it's free!

Remember to click on heartsfc.co.uk for Hearts News Today - every weekday at 12 noon!