Injuries hit Hearts again as Walker is ruled out with leg fracture
HEARTS manager Craig Levein’s injury jinx has struck again with Jamie Walker sidelined for a ‘few months’ with a fractured leg. The midfielder took the full force of an accidental kick from Liam Donnelly as he intercepted a pass just as the Motherwell midfielder was lining up a shot in the Gorgie side’s 2-1 Betfred Cup victory at Fir Park on Friday night. The 26-year-old attempted to continue after receiving treatment but was replaced in the 38th minute by Steven MacLean in the last-16 tie. After an X-ray confirmed a fracture to the fibula, Walker broke the news on social media. He said: ‘Gutted to be missing the next few months with a fracture. Delighted for the boys with the win. Thanks everyone for the messages.’ Hearts were plagued by injuries last season, with John Souttar, Steven Naismith, Uche Ikpeazu, Ben Garuccio and Peter Haring all being sidelined for significant spells. Haring is still absent with a long-standing groin complaint, while Souttar and Naismith sat out the Motherwell clash with ankle and hamstring problems respectively. Jake Mulraney was also forced off on Friday night. Levein, meanwhile, has admitted paperwork is still holding up the arrival of Ryotaro Meshino from Manchester City, despite the Japanese midfielder being granted a work permit. The Tynecastle club cleared that obstacle on Friday in their bid to recruit the 21-year-old on loan but Meshino now needs to return to Osaka to obtain a visa to ply his trade in the Scottish Premiership. ‘There is a lot of work to be done. The biggest hurdle is getting the permission to get the work permit so now we need to get a visa, which will take time,’ said Levein. ‘He needs to go back to Osaka to get it. ‘There’s still a bit of work to do. I hope it will be done fairly quickly but we’ll have to wait and see.’