Borch a strong contender for starting place at the weekend

Christian Borchgrevink is a strong contender to start his second Premiership match for Hearts at Motherwell on Saturday, writes Barry Anderson.

- Barry Anderson.

The Norwegian right-back has made just two league appearances this season since arriving from Valerenga and is poised to play a bit more often in the weeks ahead.

A thigh injury suffered in the opening Premiership fixture against Aberdeen ruled Borchgrevink out for several weeks and he has had to be patient since recovering. It took him time to regain a place in Hearts' matchday squad, with midfielder Oisin McEntee preferred at right-back. Borchgrevink was an unused substitute against Dundee and Dundee United earlier this month. He then reappeared on the pitch on Sunday as a 73rd-minute substitute, coincidentally, against Aberdeen.

Hearts head coach Derek McInnes expects the 26-year-old defender to make more appearances and may promote him to the starting lineup this weekend. McInnes told the Edinburgh News that Borchgrevink would have been in the team at Pittodrie and was unfortunate to be left out, purely as a precaution.

"We had actually lined up with Borch potentially starting on Sunday," McInnes explained. "We were also starting Michael Steinwender, who hasn't had a lot of minutes, Frankie Kent hasn't had a lot of minutes, Landry Kabore hasn't had a lot of minutes, and neither has Tomas Magnusson.