Premiership

McInnes says he hopes Findlay and captain Lawrence Shankland, who has been missing since 17 January with a hamstring injury, will be back for the final pre-split game against Motherwell on 11 April.

Another key figure, midfielder Cammy Devlin, is due back in “two or three weeks” according to McInnes, as is defender Stephen Kingsley.

Hearts are four points clear of Rangers at the top of the Premiership.

“As it stands we had 11 players unavailable to train today, but we’ve still got enough to train and put a strong team out and a strong squad out on Saturday,” McInnes said.

“So my focus is the ones that are available, and just trying to get one or two who are in the 50-50 category available for the weekend.

“It’s easy to feel sorry for yourself, easy to think: ‘why us? why me?’ But it’s unrealistic to go through a full campaign [without injuries].

“It’s a league for as reason, you have to go through these different tests and challenges.

“There’s no doubt we’re getting challenged at the minute. Once we get through the next four games we will ideally be a bit stronger going into the final run in.

“It will almost feel like a transfer window opening up in April. So you’ve got to take the good with the bad.”

Midfielder McEntee went to see a specialist on Wednesday morning for a shoulder issue after a scan revealed “fairly positive” news.

Baningime has some bruising on his lower leg and McInnes says the midfielder is hopeful he can train on Friday and feature at Tynecastle against Aberdeen.

Kerjota, meanwhile, picked up a hip strain in a closed door friendly against Dundee on Tuesday but may well be fit to play too.

England fly-half Zoe Harrison nailed a late long-range penalty as Saracens snatched a 36-33 win over Bristol Bears at StoneX Stadium.

The victors raced into a 26-12 lead at half-time through tries by Millie Whizz, New Zealand’s Ruahei Demant and England prop Sarah Bern, who crossed twice.

Despite two scores by hooker May Campbell and one by Olivia Apps to retake the lead, Bristol then levelled the game after Keira Bevan converted her own try.

However, Harrison confidently smashed over a 79th-minute penalty to show why she was England’s World Cup-winning starting fly-half.

The victory meant Saracens kept up the pressure on Premiership Rugby Women’s league leaders Gloucester-Hartpury, while Bristol remain second from bottom.

Exeter Chiefs defeated Loughborough Lightning 26-5 at Sandy Park in Sunday’s other PWR fixture.

Francesca Granzotto, Amy Rule and Hope Rogers all scored first-half tries for the Chiefs, with Ireland’s Dorothy Wall grabbing the vital bonus-point try in the final play.

The result moved Exeter into third place above Harlequins, who lost to Gloucester-Hartpury on Saturday.

From a huge game on Wednesday, to an even bigger one on Sunday afternoon. First travels to second when Hearts go to Ibrox to face Rangers.

Derek McInnes’ side won there earlier in the season, for the first time since 2014. They beat Rangers at Tynecastle, too, in a 2-1 win in December.

But, Rohl’s men haven’t lost since then. In fact, they’ve drawn twice and won seven. It’s resurgent form that looks a world away from a team which were once 13 points adrift in the title race under Russell Martin.

“I think it is a pretty good point [against Motherwell] but as Danny Rohl mentioned, there’s a massive game on Sunday [against Hearts] and that starts to look like a must-win,” said former Rangers midfielder Derek Ferguson.

Celtic will be looking on, crossing their fingers and wishing for a draw.

They’ll be fresh off the back of a game against Kilmarnock down at Rugby Park. The last time they were, they won thanks to a late Kelechi Iheanacho penalty.

They’ll need a better performance than the one against Livingston. Although they peppered the visitors’ goal with shots, the lack of cutting edge will be a worry.

“Celtic were running out of ideas, very predictable, just playing it across, hoping rather than making it happen, and they just got away with it right at the end,” said former keeper Pat Bonner.

“What a huge three points it is for Celtic. They’ll be relieved.”