Souttar hit with fresh injury blow

HEARTS boss Craig Levein has revealed John Souttar faces a further three months on the sidelines after undergoing ‘major’ surgery in a bid to finally cure a persistent ankle injury. The Scotland defender was initially expected to be out for up to a fortnight after being forced off just 39 minutes into the new Premiership season in the defeat to Aberdeen on August 4. However, various scans and consultations with some of the leading specialists in the UK failed to throw any light on why he was still continuing to feel pain. It was only when a surgeon opened up the joint on Thursday that the true extent of the problem was discovered. It is a further blow to a player who has already endured lengthy lay-offs with separate Achilles and hip injuries in the last two years. Levein also admitted yesterday that defender Craig Halkett is facing up to ten weeks out with knee medial ligament damage after the defender hobbled out of last week’s draw at St Mirren. ‘The surgeon who operated on John has never seen anything like it before and it was very unusual,’ said Levein, whose side host Kilmarnock today. ‘The point where his three ligaments are attached to the bone, the sheath that holds them in place is torn and it didn’t show up on scans, CT, ultrasound, X-rays or anything. ‘The surgeon had to reattach the sheath and put the ligaments back in where they should be and then stitch it to the bone, which is quite a major operation. ‘John’s got a cast on and that’s on for two weeks and he’ll wear a protective boot for four weeks.’ Levein said of Halkett: ‘He will be out for about ten weeks.’