Motherwell’s winner was a ‘sucker punch’ for Levein
causing the Tynecastle club huge concern as their match with Hibs looms.
Medical guidelines on concussion injuries state that a ten-day recovery period is usually required before the patient can resume sport. That would rule Berra out of Hearts’ visit to Easter Road for what is a vital derby match.
Manager Craig Levein revealed after yesterday’s match how Berra took a pain-killing injection to play in the 2-1 defeat. Levein had to avert a mini defensive crisis with niggling injuries affecting several of his back line.
He handed 20-year-old Canadian Marcus Godinho his Hearts debut but was worried about losing one of his three centre-backs – Berra, Aaron Hughes and John Souttar.
With Demetri Mitchell out due to a knee injury, Godinho started at right wing-back and Connor Randall lined up on the left. Michael Smith was kept on the substitutes’ bench as the only experienced defensive cover.
Carl Mchugh’s 86thminute volley took Motherwell into the semi-finals and left Hearts dejected. Kyle Lafferty’s second-half penalty had cancelled out the hosts’ early opener.
Levein was left stunned by Motherwell’s winner. “I didn’t see it coming – it was a real sucker punch,” the Hearts manager admitted.
He conceded his team had been “terrible” in the first half, considerably better after the break, but was disappointed they couldn’t provide the huge travelling support with a trip to Hampden.
“Although Motherwell didn’t have many chances in that first period because we’d been stuffy, that was as poor as I’ve seen the team in possession,” he said.
Levein was angry his team weren’t awarded a second penalty when the ball appeared to strike the arm of Andy Ross near the end but referee Andrew Dallas wasn’t interested.
“In the second half we’ve hit the post, [Kyle] Lafferty’s forced a terrific save from [Trevor] Carson and we’ve had an unbelievable penalty claim. I saw it, I was much further away than he [Dallas] was. I couldn’t understand why it wasn’t given.”
Hearts captain Christophe Berra is a major doubt for Friday’s Edinburgh derby after being taken to hospital with concussion, writes Barry Anderson.
The 33-year-old sustained a severe head knock during the final minutes of yesterday’s Scottish Cup quarter-final defeat against Motherwell and could now miss the trip to Easter Road to face Hibs.
After being examined in the Fir Park dressingroom at full-time, Hearts medical staff took Berra straight to hospital. He had taken a pre-match injection to play after suffering an ankle injury in training on Saturday. However, it is the head knock which is