Why Musa Drammeh could come into Hearts attack beside under-fire duo.

Heart of Midlothian enters today’s critical match against Aberdeen at the bottom of the Scottish Premiership table. Hibernian’s win at Motherwell propelled them ahead of Neil Crtichley’s side, which suffered their fourth consecutive Conference League defeat on Thursday against Cercle Brugge. Hearts have had a difficult run of fixtures, but one goal – a consolation from Musa Drammeh against Celtic – in their last four games has raised concerns once again.

The biggest decision Critchley must make ahead of second-placed Aberdeen is who will lead the line. Musa was unavailable in Belgium but has put himself in contention for Sunday. Both Critchley and Steven Naismith, the man who brought Musa to the club, believe the Spaniard is capable of playing through the middle. But will he be trusted as the No. 9 in such a big game? Or will he start beside or to the side of Lawrence Shankland, a player without any concerns to deal with. The Hearts manager must make a difficult decision regarding whether to stick with a player who appears to be out of sorts, as seen by his missed penalty in Bruges.

There is also an issue on the right wing. Alan Forrest has improved to an extent under the new boss and Kenneth Vargas has shown flashes, but no one has nailed down the position.

(Image: BeFunky)

Things are more predictable further back. The suspension of James Penrice will result in the return of Stephen Kingsley, and Daniel Oyegoke should replace Adam Forrester. Beni Baningime will start in midfield after being rested, as will Blair Spittal, who might play centrally or on the left – though with no Penrice overlapping, how useful the latter is remains to be seen. Under Critchley, the midfielder was also known to play up front as a second striker. While it is relatively simple to forecast who will form the midfield, determining the actual shape of the midfield is more complicated.

Critchley has typically liked a basis of Baningime and Malachai Boateng, with Spittal floating ahead or to the left. But would he be inspired by Liam Fox’s set-up at Pittodrie, which, if not for a Jorge Grant red card, could have stolen all three points from an unbeaten Dons team?

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