Sammon has struggled for goals since arriving at Tynecastle

Dundee United are attempting to sign Hearts striker Conor Sammon on an emergency loan basis.

The Tannadice outfit, level on points with Championship leaders Hibernian, are keen to secure the 30-year-old before Saturday's game with St Mirren.

If the two clubs and Sammon can reach agreement, he may stay at United until the end of the season on a loan basis when the January transfer window opens.

But Hearts boss Ian Cathro insists Sammon remains part of his plans.

Head coach Cathro says the Republic of Ireland cap has not been affected by Hearts fans booing his appearance as a substitute in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Partick Thistle.

Sammon joined Hearts in the summer on a three-year contract but has scored just twice in 19 appearances.

The former Derry City player first came to Scotland's top flight by moving to Kilmarnock in 2008 and subsequently had spells with Wigan, Derby and Sheffield United, among others. He has scored 76 goals in his 372 senior club appearances and has nine international caps.

Cathro says Hearts "don't have a massive number of players"

"There's nothing there," Cathro said of the speculation. "I can understand it from their point of view, if that's the type of player they're looking for.

"From our side, no, and [he'll be in Friday's squad to face Dundee]. He's a strong player, a very focused guy, a top professional.

"His work every day has been exemplary, so there's no call for him to need support [after the booing]. Trust me, he's fine and he's an important player."

Hearts face Dundee, Kilmarnock and Aberdeen before the January transfer window opens.

"Business is something which is going to happen, but what's important is that I'm at a point of trying to do a lot of things very quickly but we've also got to stay focused on the most important thing, the game on Friday, the game on Tuesday and the game on the following Friday," added Cathro, who replaced Robbie Neilson earlier this month.

"We don't have a massive number of players and we need everybody pushing and fighting to give each other the absolute best shot they have at what we have ahead of ourselves in the next 10 days.

"Whilst that's going on, I have a job to do in assessing how things are and to have an idea of where I would like to move the squad when we can do business in January.

"We will begin work on that but we're not in a position where we can take even 1% off the focus on the next 10 days."