Hearts will lay a new pitch this week after problems with the Tynecastle surface.

The capital club have experienced a number of issues with the surface in recent weeks, most notably during their Scottish Cup draw with city rivals Hibernian.

Hearts' pitch has deteriorated badly with the turf cutting up, making passing football difficult.

Now the club's hierarchy have chosen to deal with the issue ahead of their next home clash rather than waiting until May.

Owner Ann Budge said: "While we knew that we would have to address the replacement of our now 19-year-old pitch sometime soon we were hoping that it would see us through to the end of this season.

"However, having carefully monitored the issues and having consulted a number of experts in this field, we have taken the decision to address the problem now.

"The work is scheduled to start this week and we are assured it will be completed well in time for our next home game against Ross County, on Wednesday, March 1."

Hearts are currently in the middle of a £12m redevelopment of Tynecastle, which includes a new main stand designed to increase the capacity to just over 20,000.