How ‘James Bond’ might help Hearts overcome injury crisis

Imagine it. Rogers Mato – does that translate to Roger Moore? – kicks in the front doors at Tynecastle at 14:55 on Sunday, dressed in a tuxedo, after skidding into the car park in his Aston Martin.

And, yet, that still wouldn’t be the maddest thing to have happened in Scottish football this season.

McInnes is hopeful his new forward, brought in from North Macedonian league leaders Vardar, will be available to him at the weekend, pending paperwork approval.

Waiting around for work permit and visa issues to be cleared doesn’t feel very 007, but the fast-tracked arrival of the 22-year-old, who had agreed to join as a free agent in the summer, comes at a good time for Hearts following Shankland’s injury.

Capable of operating anywhere across the attack, Mato will arrive in fantastic form, having netted 12 goals in 13 games in the North Macedonia’s top tier during the first half of this season.

The Uganda international also scored at the recent Africa Cup of Nations in a group defeat by Nigeria.

However, it feels more likely that Pierre Landry Kabore, who was plucked from Estonia’s top flight last summer, will be Shankland’s replacement on Sunday at least.

The 24-year-old scored a double against Dundee – his only Hearts goals – in one of his five league starts in November.

Kazakhstan winger Islam Chesnokov has also been signed this month to boost attacking options, along with Dutch right-back Jordi Altena.

A bid has been rejected for Forest Green Rovers midfielder Laurent Mendy, with McInnes revealing the club are “actively trying” to bring in one or two additional players.

In the face of adversity, Hearts are clearly not standing still.

“The ability to react to a situation is always reassuring for a manager,” McInnes said. “A lot of the time it’s ‘the budget’s the budget’ and sometimes the answer’s ‘no’.

“The majority of the time in my career the answer’s been ‘no’, but this time there are people here who are keen to try and support because we’re in a brilliant position.”