Source: PA
Driver doubt for Jefferies
Hearts may be without Andrew Driver for the start of the new season - but manager Jim Jefferies is more hopeful over Kevin Kyle and Lee Wallace.
Driver underwent a thigh operation earlier in the summer and is making tentative progress in his recovery, leaving his presence in the line-up to face St Johnstone on August 14 in doubt.
"Driver is too early to say," Jefferies told the Scotsman. "He's taking it easy at the moment and he's a week or two away from stepping things up. I think he's touch and go for the start of the season."
Striker Kyle (thigh) and full-back Wallace (calf), though, are both set to play some part in a pre-season campaign which sees Hearts take on Dunfermline on Tuesday before travelling to the south of England for games against Millwall and Gillingham and then returning home to host Barclays Premier League sides Wolves and Blackburn.
"Kyle has been out jogging with the physio," Jefferies confirmed. "We won't rush him but he's been doing a bit more than last week. The game against Dunfermline and the London trip will come too soon for him. We're targeting him to take part in the Wolves game. I'm a little bit more confident about him starting the season but you don't know these things until you step it up a bit.
"Wallace isn't quite as serious and by the end of the week he could be up and running again. There's a chance he may make the London trip but I think Dunfermline will just come too soon for him. I'm confident he will make the St Johnstone game."
