Hearts Ryan Stevenson is hoping for more involvement after making his comeback from a knee ligament injury in the 71st minute of last weekend's goalless draw with Dundee United. Manager Gary Locke preferred not to give him more game time for the Under-20s in midweek as he did not want to play the midfielder on an artificial surface. The Jambos will be welcoming St Mirren to Tynecastle today and midfielder Jamie Hamill is looking forward to the chance to close the gap between the two sides at the bottom of the table. They Gorgie side could cut the gap to six points after St Mirren's poor start to the campaign gave impetus to Hearts bid to overturn a 15-point penalty and avoid relegation. Saints manager Danny Lennon saw the pressure on himself slightly eased when his team collected their second point of the campaign, against Aberdeen on Monday. But Hamill is revelling in the demanding nature of the game and his club's predicament.Hamill said: "I'm looking forward to the game first and foremost. It's going to be a big game considering the points difference but it's one we are looking forward to. I think we have been under pressure from day one so I would say it's ourselves (who are under most pressure). We are putting pressure on ourselves to try to boost up the league. And that's good because I think we have been playing really well."Buddies' Lennon will have to put his faith in defender Lee Mair. Marc McAusland (ankle) is still out and Mair should keep his place from Monday's draw, despite being told in the summer he was free to find a new club. Their only other absentee is long-term injury victim David Barron (ankle), while left-back Danny Grainger returns from suspension. Midfielder John McGinn admitted: "Every game is a cup final for us now. We are down there and need to get ourselves out this hole we have got ourselves into. But I still definitely prefer to be in our position than theirs because we are higher up in the table. It's not nice because I've got a lot of friends at Hearts from my time with the Scotland set-up. It's not nice to see them going through administration and people losing their jobs. But the team have done really well. Now we just need to hope we can get the better of them."
Source: ScottishFitba
Source: FOOTYMAD
