Why Hearts won't be signing another right-back as loanee recalled and update given on Christian Borchgrevink

The 20-year-old last week joined Championship side Saints under the terms of the Scottish Football Association’s new ruling that allows Scottish-qualified players aged 21 or under to join a lower-league club but be able to move between the parent and cooperation club throughout the season to increase playing time.

Hearts have immediately opted to bring Forrester – yet to make an appearance for the Perth club – back into the mix ahead of Saturday’s Premier Sports Cup trip to St Mirren after learning that summer signing Borchgrevink will be out until at least next month with a thigh injury.

“Yeah, I brought Adam back,” confirmed McInnes on Wednesday. “That’s the beauty of the co-operation loan. We allowed one of our young players to go out and we felt it was a good move for Adam in terms of just maintaining his minutes.

“We couldn’t guarantee that here having signed Christian in the summer but – Sod’s law – we got the results of Christian’s scan on the Saturday. Adam was due to play in the game on Friday but St Johnstone didn’t register him in time so he never even got to play the game at Ross County.

“And then when we get the news that Christian was going to be out for potentially six to eight weeks, we had to react to that.

“We’re hoping it’s not as long as that. Sometimes the scan can maybe exaggerate an issue. And the way Christian is presenting, he’s not actually feeling too bad, so we’re going to try and treat the symptoms rather than the scan results and see how it goes.

“But he will certainly be out for a few weeks, so bringing Adam back made so much sense. Adam was good with that, he understands the mechanics of the co-operation loan.”

No plans to recruit

McInnes is not planning to recruit a new right-back to cover for Borchgrevink.

“Despite what everybody thinks, we’re not spending millions,” he said. “We’ve got a budget to work within. If money was no object, then maybe it’s something we’d go out and look at, which allows Adam to go out.

“But we need to balance books here. We’re trying to get work with tighter numbers. It (signing another right-back) is not something we intended to do and it’s not something that has changed. We’ve prioritised other areas and we go with what we’ve got. Adam played 30-odd games for Hearts last season.

“We don’t anticipate Christian being out as long as the scan suggests. We run with what we’ve got. We’ve got others that can fill in, that can play these positions.

“It’s not as if it’s as easy as just saying ‘brand new players’ all the time. You’ve still got to manage a budget and manage your squad.”