Csaba Laszlo has insisted Hearts' current injury plight would not prevent him wielding the axe if they fail to give everything to turn the club's Clydesdale Bank Premier League season around.

Laszlo's selection headache has deepened in the past week with the news winger Suso Santana and defender Marius Zaliukas could be out until mid-December.

The Hearts boss is already without Laryea Kingston, Callum Elliot and David Templeton as he looks to transform a start to the season which sees the club languishing in eighth place in the table.

Laszlo does not believe the slump can be attributed to players being too confident of their place in the side, warning he would not tolerate such an attitude.

Ahead of the first Edinburgh derby of the season, he said: "If we talk about the team and somebody doesn't run or fight or like to play football but he thinks, 'There's nobody behind me', this is not true.

"We also have some other players who can maybe take their place."

Precisely who Laszlo then brings into the squad is another matter, with Hearts lacking any real experience outside their first-choice players.

And despite being undone by a team full of youngsters at Motherwell last weekend, Laszlo insisted a mass influx of academy prospects was not the solution.

"You can have a 17- 20-year-old guy, maybe two, in the team, but not, five, six, seven," he said.

"You don't have the consistency; for this you need a little bit of experience.

"We talk about everybody having young people, but the young people also must have some quality."

With only two wins from 10 SPL matches, Laszlo has found himself and his team coming under sustained criticism from fans for the first time since he arrived at the club just over a year ago.

Matters reached a head in the last home game almost two weeks ago when captain Michael Stewart was booed from the field by a section of his own supporters.

Asked if he expected a similar reception if things go awry against Hibernian on Saturday, Laszlo said: "Maybe you must ask the fans. But I think if the fans see players trying to do everything for success, they won't boo anybody off and will stay behind the team.

"I don't think it's necessary to boo your players if they make a mistake."

Laszlo added: "If you win games, you have it easier. This is the solution: success.

"It's very simple. If you win the game, nobody asks you about other things."

To do that, Hearts will need to improve on their goal tally, with Laszlo again bemoaning his lack of options up front.

"If you don't score goals, you cannot wait for the defence and the midfield to keep the ball for 90 minutes," he said.

"We've lost only one game in the league, I think, 2-0 - the rest always with one-goal difference.

"At the front, we need somebody who can score goals.

"We are World Cup-winners in creating chances."