Hearts' McEntee & Magnusson to miss rest of season

Manager Derek McInnes says Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts must "deal with" losing Oisin McEntee and Tomas Magnusson for the rest of the season.

Midfielders McEntee, 25, and Magnusson, 23, made a combined 61 Hearts appearances this term, with McEntee netting five goals and Magnusson, three.

A hamstring injury sustained in the recent win over Motherwell ends McEntee's campaign while a thigh problem puts paid to Magnusson's season.

"Unfortunately, Oisin got bad news on the scan and is out for the season, which was a real blow for us," McInnes said.

"We had a few days to deal with that and let that sink in. All of a sudden, that's on top of Tomas Magnusson being out.

"We have to deal with that."

There was, however, more positive news for McInnes regarding defender Harry Milne, who is recovering from an ankle injury. McInnes says the full-back, 29, has an outside chance of being fit for Sunday's Edinburgh derby against Hibernian at Easter Road.

"Harry Milne is progressing really well," McInnes added. "He's neither in nor out for the weekend.

"If it comes too soon, hopefully he'll be fit for the next game against Rangers. I'm delighted with his progress."

Despite the injury setbacks, Hearts approach the final five matches of the Scottish Premiership season in a strong position, sitting one point clear of Rangers, with Celtic a further two points behind.

McInnes acknowledged the scale of the challenge, particularly with a derby first up.

"When you look at the fixtures, each one will be a different task," he said. "Every one will be a tough game. We could be getting the toughest one first with the dynamics of the derby. It's a great game to be involved in.

"The players have been the biggest driver in all of this. Seventy points is a great number to get into the split. The players have done so well to get us here.

"We just want to try and enjoy it and finish off the job. There's still so much to play for. Each game will be very competitive, very exciting."