Levein: Injuries won’t halt title charge

Jambos boss insists Souttar and Ikpeazu injury blows won’t halt their title charge

CRAIG LEVEIN believes Hearts can sustain their tabletopping form despite losing key duo John Souttar and Uche Ikpeazu for five months.

Already without captain Christophe Berra until the New Year, defender Souttar joins a growing long-term injury list after tearing a joint in his hip during Scotland’s defeat by Israel.

Striker Ikpeazu, meanwhile, was diagnosed on Wednesday night with a fracture in his foot.

Ahead of a critical month featuring games against Aberdeen, bitter rivals Hibs and two meetings with champions Celtic, Levein admits the loss of two of his best players is a savage blow.

Two points clear of Hibs at the top of the Premiership, however, the Hearts boss refuses to sound the death knell for the season quite yet.

Defeated just once in eight league games, Levein said: ‘I would love to say I can predict the future. However, my view is that we have coped well up to this point and I believe we can continue to do so.

‘You would have said that we would struggle when Berra was ruled out, but we haven’t.

‘Now we have Jimmy (Dunne) and Michael Smith who can play centre-back when he is available, although he misses Saturday.

‘And Aaron Hughes is fit. Going away with Northern Ireland for a couple of weeks was good, he’s been able to train all the way through and is fit. I’ve been happy with Clevid (Dikamona) when he has come on to the field as well.

‘We also have Sean Clare and Marcus Godinho to add into the mix. Jamie Brandon won’t be long, Harry Cochrane is fit. We’ve lost some important players — but also are adding some.’

With Berra a long-term absentee, the loss of Souttar is arguably the bigger loss than Ikpeazu despite the revelatory form of the striker since joining from Cambridge United in the summer.

Former Scotland boss Levein (below) refused to attach any blame to Alex McLeish for failing to remove the defender from the shock Haifa loss sooner than he did.

‘He landed awkwardly and felt something in his hip. It was in the first half and he said he would try it again in the second half but was struggling. It was John who said he would try it. I’m not going to throw blame at anyone.

‘John is a young guy and the captain of Hearts and he said he would try it. These things happen. He said he would go back out. There’s no blame attached to anyone involved in the national team at all.

‘We’ve had it investigated and he has torn the lining in the joint which means four or five months out, which on the back of coming back from his Achilles injury, he has something else to contend with.

‘The good thing is he’s a strong boy and the focus he showed on his first rehab brought him back in a better place than he was before he got the injury.’

A battering ram in human form, Ikpeazu’s ailment was more difficult to detect — if no less damaging to the Tynecastle cause.

‘It’s an obscure injury, a fracture in an area of his foot that is really difficult to detect,’ said Levein.

‘We’ve had scans, X-rays and CTs and he’s constantly had pain during it all. He had to stand in a certain position that created the shift in the bone that allowed us to recognise the injury.

‘It’s normally an injury associated with a car driving over someone’s foot. He’s started the season so well and feels really strong, worked really hard on himself over the summer and lost a lot of weight and has been a revelation.’

Such has been Ikpeazu’s strength and power in a Hearts shirt, it seemed unlikely that an actual car rolling over his foot would have any impact at all. Nevertheless, Levein must now plan for a critical period without three of his best players.

‘I’ve become philosophical about these things,” said Levein. ‘Sometimes when you think you’ve got your strongest team you play terribly and at other times you go into a game and players surprise you.

‘The fact we have a stronger squad, have people returning from injury and David Vanecek is arriving in January, it means we’re in a better place to cope.

‘You can’t legislate for injuries. We can’t have two Christophe Berras, two John Souttars or two Uches. We just can’t afford it, so we do the best we can to look ahead and see what we can do.’

There was some good news for Hearts yesterday with Scotland striker Steven Naismith collecting the Ladbrokes player of the month award for September after a strong scoring start to the season.

‘When we first got Steve (on loan from Norwich) he wasn’t in a positive place,’ admitted Levein. ‘Even for a senior player, it was difficult to deal with feeling unwanted for the first time in his career. It’s taken time for his fitness to improve and for him to find his place in the dressing room.’