St Johnstone manager Derek McInnes hopes Peter MacDonald has arrived back from Germany having at last found the cure for his frustrating hamstring injury.

The injury-plagued striker was reduced to a bit-part player as Saints won the Irn-Bru First Division title last season. In a bid to solve the problem, MacDonald flew to Munich last week to visit a specialist whose treatment included a first-day course of 20 injections - with more to follow.

McInnes, looking forward to Sunday's Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash with Hearts at McDiarmid Park, told said: "He was over in Germany for treatment from the specialist who works with Bayern Munich and who has a good reputation."

He continued: "Peter came back on Friday night and let's hope he is okay now. He had 20 jabs last Monday and he had 50-60 by the time the treatment was finished.

"But I spoke to him on Wednesday and we are more optimistic now. Hopefully he will be back training next week."

Saints face a Hearts side looking to claim their first SPL points of the season amid some uncertainty over manager Csaba Laszlo's future.

Laszlo had asked for more support from the club but owner Vladimir Romanov questioned his scouting credentials after telling his manager he had to place his faith in youth.

However, 18-year-old right-back Craig Thomson gave Laszlo some encouragement for the future with an accomplished debut in the 2-0 Europa League qualifying win over Dinamo Zagreb, which restored pride hurt by the 4-0 loss in Croatia.

And Thomson believes there are other youngsters ready to step up.

"I think it proved on Thursday night with Gordon Smith coming on," Thomson said. "He didn't get very long but he's a very talented player and there are a lot of talented players at Hearts in the reserves and under-19s."