Hearts’ title tilt hit by double injury blow

Hearts boss Craig Levein has been left cursing his luck after receiving the nightmare news that key men John Souttar and Uche Ikpeazu have been sidelined for the next five months.

The Jambos have been this campaign’s surprise package, but the Ladbrokes Premiership leaders’ title ambitions have been rocked by Thursday’s injury update.

Defender Souttar torn the lining of his hip during Scotland’s 2-1 Nations League defeat in Israel last week and faces being out for up to six months as a result.

To make matters worse, powerful striker Ikpeazu has been told the foot injury recently bothering him is worse than first feared and now requires surgery, ruling him out until March.

The timing of the news could not come at a worse time for Levein as he prepares for a huge month that starts on Saturday with Aberdeen’s visit to Tynecastle and also sees an Edinburgh derby clash crammed in between the Betfred Cup and league double-header with Celtic.

Confirming the double blow, the Jambos boss said: “John will be out for five or six months. He landed awkwardly and tore the lining of his hip, which is a blow.
 
“While we’re on it, Uche will be out for five months as well. This problem we’ve had with his foot we’ve managed to finally get to the bottom of. It’s a really obscure problem which needs an operation.”

Levein has already lost skipper Christophe Berra until Christmas time with a serious hamstring injury and Souttar’s set-back is the last thing he needed.

He said: “We’ve missed Christophe, but Jimmy Dunne has done a great job. We’ve got Clevid Dikamona and Aaron Hughes, but we are a little bit thin on the ground at the back.

“To lose John and Christophe isn’t an ideal situation. Sometimes it’s quite interesting being a manager having to deal with things like this.

“It is frustrating, but it’s just normal. One thing this business has taught me is to expect the worst. When you are flying there’s always problems.

“Listen, we’ll deal with it. The good thing is our recruitment was good and we’ve got adequate replacements.”

Souttar has faced the pain of an injury lay-off before. He spent the first half of 2017 battling back from an Achilles rupture, but has recovered to make himself a key figure for both club and country.

Levein knows his vice-captain will have to show his grit once again, but backed the 22-year-old to guide Ikpeazu through the dark days that lie ahead.

He said: “John’s a tough boy as you saw with the Achilles problem. He fought back and got himself into the national team and also been the captain of Hearts too.

“He’s just been unfortunate. He dealt with the previous injury very stoically and got on with it.

“He worked very hard to get himself into a position where he could help himself and the team. And all credit to him for that.

“Uche is going to face a similar thing. He’s been flying as John was, but I think they will help each other on the recovery trail and both will come back stronger than before.”