Defensive issues for Jefferies

Jim Jefferies will be without two key defenders when he takes his Hearts side to Celtic on Saturday following Lee Wallace's knee injury. Wallace was yesterday ruled out for six months after tearing his posterior cruciate ligament during Scotland's 2-1 win over Liechtenstein on Tuesday night.Meanwhile, Marius Zaliukas, who is currently out with a knee problem, remains the subject of discussions between his parent club FBK Kaunas and Hearts.There is the added factor that Wallace was named skipper in club captain Zaliukas' absence, meaning Jefferies is set to hand the armband to Eggert Jonsson at Parkhead on Saturday.Zaliukas has been on loan at Tynecastle since the summer of 2006 from Kaunas - owned by Hearts majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov - but the agreement expires at the end of December.The 26-year-old last week denied claims he asked for £20,000 a week and insisted he hoped the situation would soon be resolved.Jefferies today called for Zaliukas to do his utmost to extend his stay in Edinburgh and end the ongoing uncertainty.The Hearts boss said: "A bit of it is in Marius' own hands - he's got to want to stay here and he's got to want to agree terms."Zaliukas travelled to Lithuania for discussions with Romanov during the international break, but a resolution is no nearer.The 26-year-old defender was at Hearts' Edinburgh training ground today, but is unavailable as Jefferies' side take their unbeaten record to Celtic on Saturday."He's back over today to get treatment," said Jefferies."I don't think the situation's changed."He's locked in talks with them - he's a Kaunas player and until that's resolved we'll have to wait and see."I've just got to get on with things here."Wallace's injury was the latest blow for Jefferies, who has a number of fitness concerns ahead of the Celtic clash.Jefferies will now have a decision to make at who to field at left-back, with Ruben Palazuelos a possible starter in the role.The manager added: "It's a huge blow for the boy (Wallace)."Things were going well for him, he started the season great, he was made captain and then he gets into the Scotland team."He's a big loss to the team, but we just have to get on with it."Wallace will see a specialist in London in the next few days to determine if he will require an operation.But Jefferies is optimistic Wallace will make a full recovery."Lee's a determined player and he's young enough to recover," he said."We can't jump the gun, we know what it is, what the scan showed."How he recovers from it is down to seeing the specialist in London."The likelihood is that he'll need an operation, but if he doesn't it might be just rehabilitation."Whatever it is it's going to be a long time out."We just have to accept the worst and fear for the rest of the season, but who knows?"We'll try and find the quickest way to get him back and I'm sure with his determination and the age he is he'll get back sooner rather than later."

Source: Team_Talk