Newcastle United forward dealt illness blow

Garang Kuol sat out of Hearts’ 5-0 win against Aberdeen on Wednesday night due to illness.

The teenage forward joined the Scottish Premiership club on loan last week and made his debut less than 24 hours later during the Jam Tarts’ 1-0 win over St Mirren.

Kuol was introduced as a 77th-minute substitute and would have claimed an assist but for Stephen Humphrys’ disappointing miss.

Despite being on the pitch for only a short amount of time, Kuol made a positive impression among Hearts fans, and they were eager to see him in action against Aberdeen last night.

However, Hearts quickly confirmed the reason for Kuol’s absence when the starting XI and bench were announced. Boss Robbie Neilson hopes to have Kuol back in time for the Edinburgh derby versus Hibernian on Sunday.

Fans wished Kuol well but plenty took a light-hearted approach as the forward adapts to the cold temperatures of Edinburgh, compared to what he’s been used to on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Newcastle United won the race for Kuol’s highly-rated signature in September before his move became official at beginning of the month.

The Magpies’ plan was to loan out Kuol immediately. A number of clubs expressed an interest and it was his choice to join Hearts after holding face-to-face talks with sporting director Joe Savage.

Kuol, who featured in Australia’s Qatar World Cup squad will spend the rest of the campaign at Tynecastle before United re-assess his development in the summer.

"I think when you give a player an opportunity to go on loan, it’s very much a personal choice,” Howe said.

“I think from a football club we can advise and give our opinion, but ultimately, it’s down to the player himself as to what his feeling is, what his gut feeling is, when he meets the manager and the coaches and visits the club.

“That’s what we did - we gave him an opportunity to go and visit people and see the environment, and Hearts was his choice, and we very much respect and back that."