By Richard Wilson BSports Scotland

Hamilton Academical boss Martin Canning has no fresh injury worries as he prepares for Sunday's visit of Hearts.

Canning could return to action himself after recovering from a hamstring strain as he seeks to plug a defence that leaked eight goals to Celtic.

Hearts winger Sam Nicholson missed last week's 6-0 drubbing of Motherwell with a knee injury and is rated 50-50.

Midfielder Jamie Walker is still out but could make his comeback from knee surgery against Inverness next week.

Reporter's notes

Hamilton will still be shell-shocked. There is always a sense of alarm when a club releases a statement supporting their manager, but that statement was considered necessary following the 8-1 defeat at Celtic Park on Tuesday.

Martin Canning has suffered some body blows in recent weeks. Hamilton were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by League Two's Annan Athletic, then performed with a glaring lack of defensive capability at Celtic Park.

The team has appeared fragile and occasionally witless. Celtic took full advantage, and the anxiety for Canning is that Hearts are more than capable of doing the same.

Robbie Neilson's side approaches this visit to New Douglas Park having swept Motherwell aside last weekend in a 6-0 win that would not have been overly-flattering if two goals had not been disallowed for being offside.

That scoreline was impressive, but the previous weekend's 1-0 win over Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup was in many ways more so.

Hearts were bold, playing high-tempo, aggressively attacking football which the visitors at Tynecastle could not live with.

Neilson's side is strong and efficient, with several attacking outlets. Hamilton need to regroup, but the visit of Hearts hardly offers an opportunity to recover their footing.

Midfield will be a key area, since Hamilton are at their best when Ali Crawford is influential. Hearts are strong in that area, though, with Arnaud Djoum adding dynamism and shrewd running to an already strong base of Morgaro Gomis and Prince Buaben.

For Hamilton, it might be enough to simply avoid defeat. They have won only one game since the end of September, and are being drawn into the scuffle to avoid finishing in the bottom two.

For Hearts, the challenge is to overhaul Aberdeen and try to finish in second place. That requires consistency, but the team does appear to have built up a strong momentum.