Celtic 0 - 1 Heart of Midlothian

Key Hoops duo ruled out

Updated: October 27, 2009, 3:22 PM UK

Artur Boruc and Scott Brown will miss Celtic's Co-operative Insurance Cup quarter-final against Hearts.

Boruc (thigh) has not trained since sitting out Sunday's Clydesdale Bank Premier League victory at Hamilton, while Brown will again sit out with an ankle injury.

Danny Fox (hamstring) and Marc-Antoine Fortune (knee) are back in training but the game will come too soon for the former Nancy striker.

Brown looks set for an extended spell on the sidelines in a bid to overcome his lingering injury.

Celtic assistant manager Mark Venus also expects Brown to miss the SPL clash against Kilmarnock on Saturday.

And Venus admits he would prefer Brown to rest further if it means a returns to the form that persuaded Celtic to pay Hibernian £4.4million for his services two years ago.

The 24-year-old underwent surgery on his ankle in the close season and missed the first few games of Tony Mowbray's reign.

But he has struggled to shake off the pain in his ankle and visited a specialist in London earlier this month before pulling out of Scotland's friendly in Japan.

Venus said: "I haven't seen him for a couple of days. I do know his ankle is very sore.

"I would suggest he isn't fit for selection this weekend either. After that, I'm not sure.''

Celtic face Hamburg in the Europa League on Bonfire Night and visit Falkirk in the SPL three days later.

But with a two-week interval before Celtic face Dundee United, Mowbray may be tempted to rest Brown until the trip to Tannadice.

And Venus clearly hopes Scotland boss George Burley leaves him out of his squad for the friendly against Wales on November 14.

Venus said: "He's got an international week coming soon so he will get another break, hopefully.

"Listen, I think he's got a problem and he needs a rest. It's well-documented.

"For Scotland, for Celtic, for everyone, for the kid, for his performances, I think he has got to get himself fit properly.

"Hopefully, he will take as long as it takes to come out on the pitch next time as the proper Scott Brown.''

Hearts captain Michael Stewart is a major doubt for the quarter-final tie.

The midfielder, who was booed by some of his own supporters during Saturday's goalless Clydesdale Bank Premier League draw with Falkirk, did not train on Monday due to an ankle problem originally picked up last week.

Goalkeeper Marian Kello (shoulder), defender Marius Zaliukas (ankle) and strikers Callum Elliot (knee) and David Templeton (foot) are all nearing returns, but Laryea Kingston is still missing with the hamstring injury that prevented him continuing his comeback at the weekend.

Meanwhile, Csaba Laszlo has warned his Hearts bosses "you'll never win anything with kids'' as he revealed the depth of his frustration at watching the club go backwards this season.

Paraphrasing the quote which famously came back to haunt television pundit Alan Hansen more than a decade ago, an animated Laszlo insisted a refusal to bolster the squad with experienced players in the January transfer window would almost certainly result in failure.

The Hearts boss stopped short of repeating August's threat to walk away if he did not get the financial backing he was seeking.

But he made it clear he was not happy to preside over a club which had no ambition of bettering last season's third-placed finish in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

"If you would like to be better, you must have a clear structure,'' said Laszlo, who side have slumped to ninth spot this season. "If you don't have a clear structure, the loser is always the manager.

"I would like to have development. After third place, I am not satisfied.

"If you would like to be better, you also need quality.

"A very good guy said, `With youth players, you never win anything'.

"This club must win something and the people are satisfied if they see the team can move forward. You must have progress.

"Progress is not a step back; progress is to move forward. And this is the frustration from many people after the third place.''

He added: "If in January we have a situation where players are taken out, we must have a replacement.

"These young players need a guide. We cannot always say a 19-year-old guy is ready.

"He can be ready but this 19-year-old guy needs to his left or right side a 25-year-old or 27-year-old who can tell you, `Look here, do this, look what I do and I'll guide you to a better performance'.''