Paul Hartley, the Alloa Athletic manager, has held talks with his former team-mate Rudi Skacel as he considers an audacious attempt to sign the former Hearts playmaker.

The mercurial Czech, who lifted the Scottish Cup with the Tynecastle club in 2006 and 2012, has been without a club since leaving Slavia Prague last summer and is currently based in Edinburgh.

Sources at Recreation Park have confirmed contact has been made with the player but, as of last night, no deal was thought to be imminent to take the 34-year-old to the SPFL Championship club. It is possible Skacel - who has already spent three separate spells in Scottish football with Hearts, twice, and Dundee United - could simply join up with the Alloa squad for training, as has been the case with fellow free agent Derek Riordan in the past two months.

Hartley, who has taken his side to fifth place in the table, played alongside Skacel during the Scottish Cup win in 2006.

The seven-time capped internationalist has also been linked with a third spell at Hearts if the terms of their transfer embargo are altered by the Scottish Professional Football League on Monday.

Meanwhile, Alloa have secured the loan signing of Hibernian's Ross Caldwell until the end of the season. The 20-year-old announced himself last season when he scored a stunning stoppage-time winner to secure a 2-1 derby victory at Tynecastle.

However, Caldwell has failed to nail down a place in the first-team this term and his start to life under new manager Terry Butcher has been stormy; the pair had a touchline bust-up after the player was substituted during Butcher's debut against Ross County at Dingwall in November.