Hearts striker Uche Ikpeazu is suspended for Celtic’s visit to Tynecastle after picking up a booking against Rangers.
The towering Englishman has now racked up a total of six yellow cards after scything down Steven Davis at Ibrox on Sunday. Hearts went on to lose the game 5-0 having failed to lay a glove on Steven Gerrard’s side.
SFA disciplinary rules state that players who have received six cautions will then have to endure a one-match suspension 14 days after the incident. That leaves Celtic as Hearts’ next game at that point, meaning he’ll be out for the crunch clash.
Not many at Ibrox would’ve been cheering the decision had they managed to work that one out. Ikpeazu hasn’t made much of an impact this season, but he has proved a handful for Celtic’s defence in the past.
In addition to his suspension, there are also question marks over Steven Naismith too. After just coming back from an over two-month injury spell last month, he had to come off in Hearts’ 1-1 draw with Livingston last night. Interim manager Austin MacPhee said that it was too early to judge the severity of the knock (Edinburgh Evening News).
Ikpeazu absence takes away Hearts’ Plan A
Whether you rate him or not, Ikpeazu probably suits Hearts more than any other club in Scotland. For a team that enjoys route one football so much, he’s the perfect specimen to have leading the line.
Against Celtic in recent times, the plan under Craig Levein has always been to toss the ball up to him and get advancing runners in behind to try and get at Celtic. Hearts, however, don’t have anyone else suitable to play that role as effectively as him.
If Naismith is also to miss out, it could be a sorry situation for the Jambos up top. Both Christopher Jullien and Kristoffer Ajer should seriously fancy their chances of a dominant outing now.
Regardless of the fact that Hearts remain managerless, they’ve still proven to be troublesome at Tynecastle for us in recent times. It took a last-minute Odsonne Edouard goal to win there on our last visit back in February. Before that, we lost 1-0 thanks to a Kyle Lafferty strike that was set-up by Ikpeazu.
So if Hearts are weakened up top it’s a bigger boost than some may think. MacPhee doesn’t have much quality outside of his starting XI, and squad depth is a bit of a problem for them. Should both Ikpeazu and Naismith be out, Steven MacLean would be the only available senior front-man to lead the line.
However, there are still three more fixtures between now and then, and Neil Lennon will want to keep the momentum rolling without looking too far ahead.
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