'Not great': Hearts fears grow over Lawrence Shankland for Celtic clash as major update given

Shankland came off during extra time in the match at Tynecastle, which Falkirk won 5-4 on penalties following a 1-1 draw. The Scotland striker netted a penalty to cancel out Ben Parkinson’s opener but was unable to contribute in the shoot-out.

Shankland appeared to clutch his hamstring and immediately signalled that he needed to come off. McInnes said afterwards that the outlook is “not great” for next Sunday’s game against Celtic. Pace-setters Hearts currently lead both them and Rangers by six points but being without such as a talismanic figure would be a blow.

Asked how Shankland was, McInnes said: “Not great, I don't think. I don't know exactly what he's done. Again, when it comes to penalties, you want to keep him on for obvious reasons. He doesn't look good for next week anyway.”

Hearts will definitely be without midfielder Cammy Devlin, who has an ankle issue. McInnes confirmed that he will be absent for between six-to-eight weeks.

There were also concerns over Beni Baningime after he pulled up in the dying stages of the match. “I think it's more a cramp,” McInnes said. “He was down to take one of the penalties, but because his hamstring kept going into a cramp, he never took a penalty.”

It was a disappointing night all round for Hearts, who had designs on going deep in the Scottish Cup. “It stings,” McInnes admitted. “I think any time you lose a cup tie and penalty kicks, it stings that bit more. Obviously we've had experience of it already this season and it's not nice.

Disallowed goal annoys Hearts

“There was a lot of people at the start of this week who had said to me, people outwith, had said about prioritising St Mirren over the cup game. I didn't really like that mentality, I thought we should be prioritising both. I think it's important we are a strong cup team.

“It's been a tough week, it's took its toll in terms of injuries, suspensions and effort put out by the players.”

McInnes was not happy with the way Hearts were carved open down their left flank - and he was also miffed that Tomas Magnusson’s 53rd-minute goal was chalked off for handball.

“The angle I've seen, it's not definitive for me that that's a handball,” he added. “If the referee gives it, fair enough if he's maybe seen it, but I don't think VAR should be getting involved in that. I don't see any real motion from Tomas to gain an advantage.

“It's the type of thing that we said VAR wouldn't get involved in a couple of weeks ago at Hampden. It either is or it isn't. They either don't get involved or they do get involved. I thought it was really harsh, that goal to be chopped off.”

Falkirk manager John McGlynn hailed the character of recent signing Parkinson for stepping up to net the crucial final penalty in the shoot-out.

”Very bold,” said McGlynn, “because he's just basically come to the club, went on the other night there, and then he wanted to take the last penalty. He showed courage, bravery. He had what would normally be big balls, but he put himself up for it. And then, yeah, he's going straight in.

“But I think we've got a boy there, we've got a player there, the way that he's taking his goal, he's movement for the goal. And having that character to go up and put it in, you know, we've all seen penalties missed. So, yeah, I think it says a lot about him and a lot about our team.

“We've come to the league leaders tonight, and we had to battle. It wasn't perfect, it wasn't beautiful, but we had to dig in. There's many ways to win a football match, and sometimes it's unfair on penalties, as it happens at times. So, we're delighted to be through, delighted. I can't wait for the draw tomorrow night and see who we've got.”