The absence of television money meant Levein was unable to hold onto many of his out-of-contract players during the summer.

Robert Tomaschek, Steve Fulton and Thomas Flogel all left, as did star striker Ricardo Fuller, with the club unable to afford his transfer fee.

That said, Levein still has a promising crop of young players at his disposal, many of whom have been playing in the first team for a number of years now.

New signings Mark de Vries and Kevin Twaddle have unfortunately picked up injuries and will miss the start of the season along with Simmons and Alan Maybury.

Levein will hope that such bad luck does not continue for long, and captain Steven Pressley has said he hopes to be fit for the curtain raiser against Dundee.

With Pressley fit and Antti Niemi in goal, Hearts have a solid backbone and should be pushing for a Uefa Cup spot come May.