Hearts captain Marius Zaliukas faces an anxious wait to discover if he will be fit for Thursday’s Europa League play-off second leg at Liverpool. A longstanding thigh injury caused him to be substituted at half-time during Sunday’s goalless Scottish Premier League draw against Aberdeen, placing a question mark over the Lithuanian defender’s participation at Anfield. “He picked up a thigh injury against Inverness Caley and had to take a jag (pain-killing injection) before the match against Liverpool on Thursday and again today,” said Hearts manager John McGlynn. “Leading up to half-time, he felt it again so we thought it was best to take him off. “We will just have to wait and see how he progresses through the week to see whether or not he will be available for Thursday.” Hearts almost stole all three points at Pittodrie when Andrew Driver struck the woodwork in stoppage time. McGlynn said: “If we had scored that one at the end it would have felt like we had mugged them. It would have been daylight robbery. “We would have taken it but that’s how crazy football is as we had our backs to the wall for long spells and had to defend really well. I think it would have been very harsh had we walked away with all three points.”
