Souttar injury is a huge blow, says Washington

CONOR WASHINGTON has dedicated Hearts’ win over Rangers to John Souttar – and vowed to reach the

William Hill Scottish Cup final and secure Ladbrokes Premiership safety for his injured team-mate.

Souttar, inset, was stretchered off early on in the quarter-final at Tynecastle on Saturday evening with an ankle injury and his manager Daniel Stendel revealed later the centre-half could be out for the season.

Washington admitted the loss of the Scotland defender is a huge setback for the capital club, who are in twelfth place in the top flight with just 11 games remaining.

But the Northern Ireland internationalist is determined for the capital club to win their semi-final and move away from the Premiership relegation zone in the absence of their team-mate.

“It’s a terrible blow for us, it really is,” he said. “I knew how great a player John was even before I signed for Hearts. Then he came back from a long time out and played five or six games and he was magnificent in every match.

“Coming back from injury myself I realise how difficult it is for players to do that. Now he has another bout of rehab and we wish him all the best.

“It [the Rangers win] was bittersweet for us. As players we dedicate that win over Rangers to John.

“We don’t need any additional motivation for the rest of the season, but it would be nice to get him a trip to Hampden for a final and make sure he is still a Premiership player next season.”

Hearts came from behind to defeat Rangers at Tynecastle in the Premiership back in January – but have failed to win any of their four league games since.

Washington admitted that he and his team-mates, who take on their city rivals Hibernian in an Edinburgh derby at Easter Road tomorrow, must follow up their cup win with more victories.

“This has to be the turning point,” he added. “We have said it so many times and it’s so frustrating when we come off the pitch against the teams we keep losing to.

“We’ve got two big games coming up – we have Hibs and Motherwell and both of those teams will probably try and play a little bit more than the rest of the league.

“Hopefully we can get a game-plan and execute it like we did on Saturday night.”