Hearts manager Gary Locke has pleaded for football authorities to help his young stars get a much-needed breather after a 1-0 defeat by Motherwell left them both further adrift and stretched.
Jamie Walker suffered a suspected broken foot after coming on as a 54th-minute substitute for Kevin McHattie, who was playing through a hamstring problem.
Two more of Locke’s youngsters, Gary Oliver and Callum Tapping, were on the bench despite being half-fit while another, Adam King, is interesting Swansea and 22-year-old captain Danny Wilson remained out following a bout of tonsilitis.
Hearts will once again ask the Scottish Professional Football League to lift an automatic transfer embargo, which was imposed when they went into administration last summer.
The penalty came with a 15-point deduction but Hearts’ relegation from the Scottish Premiership looks increasingly likely after they fell 20 points behind Ross County after falling to a 40th-minute strike from John Sutton.
Locke is not giving up in their fight against the drop but said: “I’m not expecting anything to change but we are trying to develop some of the best young players in Scotland and all we are asking for is a wee bit of help.
“My worry is, you have seen some of the players in the last couple of weeks struggling confidence-wise and it would be ideal to give them a little breather, but unfortunately we can’t do that.”
l Partick Thistle were denied their first home league victory of the season as Ross County debutant Filip Kiss sealed a 3-3 draw with a double.
The Maryhill side led 3-1with a double from their new striker Lyle Taylor and Stevie Lawless’s close-range effort and looked on course for their first league victory in Glasgow since beating Morton last April.
However, County left-back Ben Gordon pulled one back before Kiss slid home the equaliser with 15 minutes left.