DON’T FALL IN THE CAP TRAP
Hearts boss Craig urges Hughes to be patient as he bids to become Britain’s most capped defender in play-offs
CRAIG LEVEIN will ask Aaron Hughes to put his step into the history books on hold by snubbing Northern Ireland’s first World Cup qualifying play-off match.
The Hearts defender is on the verge of an injury comeback but his boss fears it’s too soon to risk rushing him into his depleted side for tomorrow’s clash with Kilmarnock.
But if Levein is willing to put his player’s long-term interests first he expects his national coach Michael O’Neill to do the same when Hughes joins up with the Northern Ireland squad on Monday.
A play-off double header against Switzerland kicks off at Windsor Park on Thursday night followed by the return in Basel on Sunday.
Levein will be contacting O’Neill – through his assistant Austin McCann who also doubles as Northern Ireland’s No.2 – to ask him not to use Hughes for the first leg in Belfast.
With Hughes just one appearance short of becoming the most-capped British defender of all time Levein knows he’s asking for a big commitment from the 38-year-old.
He said: “I had a chat with Aaron last night. He has done one day’s training and it wasn’t even a full session. There’s a lot of things going on as you can imagine. We need him for Sunday, he has two huge matches coming up with Northern Ireland.
“The medical advice is he needs seven to 10 days’ full training before he goes back into games.
“And as much as I want him the last thing I want is to have him on the pitch on Sunday and then, like he did at Dundee, he leaves the field after seven or eight minutes.
“So I need to have a conversation with Michael which is easier because Austin is around.
“If it’s too soon for us then I think the first game for Northern Ireland would fall into that category as well.
“The second game would be outside it and I would feel comfortable enough to be able to speak to him about that.
“And I would suggest to Aaron if he wasn’t able to play on Sunday then Thursday would be too soon as well.
“The Sunday would be reasonable and we don’t play for another week. So he could play in that second match for Northern Ireland and then he’d be able to play for us against Partick when he gets back.
“I think Aaron sees that as fair enough. When it comes to dealing with guys like him they’re the ones who know their bodies.
“So you’re actually better just letting them decide, although the medical evidence has to back it up.
“It was refreshing because if Aaron plays one more game for Northern Ireland he becomes the most-capped British defender ever – and that wasn’t even a concern for him. He just wanted to make sure he was fit to play the rest of the season.
“He has played for a long, long time at a very high level. I go back to the way he lives, the way he eats, the way he looks after himself. That’s provided this longevity that very few players manage to achieve.
“The conversation was very much about what’s right for right now. But the benefit of doing it properly will be another 20 matches for us and, if Northern Ireland do get there, there’s a World Cup to think about.
“We’re on the same page which is good.”