Hearts are close to appointing Daniel Stendel's assistant.

Hearts are preparing to appoint the Hannover 96 coach Jorg Sievers as manager Daniel Stendel's assistant. Both men are currently in Germany and will land in Edinburgh on Sunday for Sievers to sign paperwork and become second in command at Tynecastle Park.

Terms have already been discussed with the 54-year-old, who is leaving his post as Hannover's goalkeeping coach to join Stendel in Scotland. The pair played and coached together at the Lower Saxony club and are now ready to reunite to help Hearts' relegation fight.

Sievers knows Stendel's footballing philosophy well and is an advocate of the manager's high-pressing tactics. As a native German speaker with a strong command of English, he will also be on hand to help with any linguistic issues which may arise.

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Stendel had been keen to bring his assistants at Barnsley, Chris Stern and Dale Tonge, to Hearts but Tynecastle officials are wary of contractual issues lingering between those two and the English Championship club. Stern and Tonge were both shown round Riccarton and Tynecastle last month, however Stendel has opted to recruit a close confidant from his homeland.

The Hearts reserve coach Andy Kirk stepped up to help out at first-team level when Stendel was named manager last month. However, the agreement was always that the German would hire his own assistant in time.