All five players could still participate in competitive games in the upcoming weeks, McInnes emphasized, adding that he has no intention of forcing any of them out. Stone, 23, and Denholm, 21, are both attracting serious interest from other teams. The 20-year-old Forrester might possibly be sent out before the transfer window ends on September 1.

Thirty players make up McInnes’ first team, which includes returning Costa Rica winger Kenneth Vargas, who has played for his country in the Gold Cup. There will be changes to the Hearts squad for Tuesday’s second Premier Sports Cup group meeting against Hamilton Academical at Broadwood, despite the fact that five players were left off the squad on Saturday.

McInnes told the Edinburgh News, “Players were left out on Saturday, players were left out of the squad, and they haven’t really done too much wrong.” “They have all truly put out quite strong efforts, but sometimes you have to let people down. Teams may not always have the luxury of changing when the going gets tough, especially at this point in the season, but we do have that luxury, so it’s crucial to try to take use of it.

Oisin McEntee, an Irish midfielder, started the game on Saturday at right-back. Christian Borchgrevink, a summer acquisition from Norway, came on as a substitute. It was Forrester who was left behind. “I believe there are many games to play; we’ll just have to wait and see.” Making snap judgments, in my opinion, is too hasty,” McInnes added. Because of the media, I believe Borch was brought here to attempt to play that position. On Saturday, we played huge Oisin there. We wanted to ensure that the level of physicality on the field was still sufficient.

Dunfermline is a large team, and we weren’t gifted with a lot of size, so we needed to make sure we had enough. We attempted to use Oisin as a sort of raiding wing-back stroke full-back based on this. However, let me clarify: Adam has done nothing wrong and has done everything perfectly. In reality, no one has; everyone has performed admirably.

Transfer interest and loan enquiries for Hearts players

“I like Adam; I liked him as a child. He’s vivacious, spiky, and has a little personality. He has put in a lot of effort, and so have Aidan, Sander, Musa, and giant Harry Stone. Although things might change rapidly, it can be difficult when you feel a million miles away from it.

Hearts is still debating whether to make a move for the midfield player, but Denholm has told them he wants to finish the preseason at Riccarton. Speaking to Denholm, McInnes affirms that other teams are interested in him but is happy to have him in the first team.

The manager said, “There has been a little bit of interest, but I don’t know yet.” We talked to Aidan. He wants to finish his preseason here, which includes the games that are coming up, so we’ll see. I have been talking to Aidan about the interest that two or three clubs have expressed. We don’t have any pressing tasks to complete this week. Aidan is content with the location, and I’m genuinely enjoying getting to know him. At this point, I don’t really want to push anyone out.