Zaliukas missed Hearts' defeat against St Mirren on 3 October

Hearts expect to be without central defender Marius Zaliukas for up to three more weeks.

The Lithuanian has been struggling with an ankle injury that forced him to miss the recent 2-1 loss at St Mirren.

"Marius still has inflammation in his ankle," manager Csaba Laszlo told the club website. "It is not so serious but he is still in some pain.

"Maybe in two or three weeks he will be okay but for now he needs rest and then we will see how he is."

Zaliukas, who missed the first four league matches of the season due to suspension, will definitely be sidelined for Saturday's trip to Aberdeen and must be a doubt for the forthcoming games against Falkirk, Celtic and Motherwell.

Hearts have made a slow start to the campaign and have been less than impressive on their travels, taking just one point from their four away games in the Scottish Premier League.

"We have been okay at Tynecastle but away from home it is not so good," Laszlo added.

"The Dundee United game is the only match we have not scored any goals but we must look at why we have not been taking more points away from Tynecastle.

"We have a lot of young players and this can happen, but we will be working on it this week."

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