McInnes on Leonard appeal, split fixtures & car parks
[SNS] Hearts head coach Derek McInnes has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Scottish Premiership match against Motherwell at Tynecastle (15:00 BST). Here are the key lines: Hearts will appeal the red card shown to midfielder Marc Leonard for denying a goalscoring opportunity in Sunday's draw at Livingston. McInnes feels there was enough time for at least one Hearts player to get back and cover before Livingston striker Robbie Muirhead would have been in a position to shoot.
"I'm almost 100% certain that he's not going to have the speed or the capability to get straight in on our goal without having to beat one of our players," he says. "And for me that then eradicates the clear and obvious opportunity. " McInnes says Hearts' post-split fixtures, which conclude with a final-day trip to Celtic Park, are "what they had anticipated".
He feels for the fans who will not be able to attend and also sympathises with supporters because of the various different kick-off times across the schedule, including the 17:30 BST start time against Rangers on Monday, 4 May. On Hearts' final five matches, McInnes adds: "I know there's been a lot of narrative and comment about the team who normally goes into the split with the most points being at home on the last game of the season and that hasn't been the case this time. I get how not everybody's going to be happy, and I think the league have got a tough job to try and keep every club happy and every set of supporters happy, but for us we're just excited about the games that are coming up.
" McInnes says that he would be happy to play the matches "in a car park" and he does "not want to get too caught up" on some of the discourse that has followed Tuesday's fixtures announcement. On his team news, McInnes revealed centre-back Stuart Findlay will return for the visit of Motherwell and left-back Harry Milne is back running and will be assessed before the game. Meanwhile, Tomas Magnusson could miss the rest of the season with a thigh strain, but the club are seeking a second opinion on the midfielder's injury.