Hearts monitor Djoum and Cochrane as Lee is ruled out of Hampden showpiece
he has shaken off the groin complaint that has kept him out since last month’s semifinal win over Inverness.
He said: “I’m good to go. I’m feeling really well. I took some days off after getting an injection then star ted with some wo r k i n t h e g y m. I s t a r t e d some light running abut 10 days ago and have been doing a little bit more ever y day. It’s b e e n a s t r e s s f u l f e w we e k s worr ying whether I’d make the final. After the semi-final against Inverness it was quite sore and didn’t get better for about a week.
“That’s why we decided to see if the injection would help and it did help a lot. Even then I didn’t know if I’d make the final and just had to see how it went once I started training. But it has felt fine and now I’m looking forward to Saturday.”
Breaking the bad news on Lee’s injur y, Levein told the c l u b’s o f f i c i a l we b s i t e : “I t ’s h u g e l y d i s a p p o i n t i n g n e ws for us, and especially for Olly.
“He twisted his knee on the p i t c h w i t h n o b o dy a r o u n d him on Sunday and at the time it didn’t lo ok to o go o d, now we know that he’ll be out for around 10 weeks.
“Missing out on a cup final is hard to take so Olly now has to focus on his rehab and target making a comeback for the beginning of the next league campaign.”
Levein says he will continue to monitor Arnaud Djoum – who has recently been kept out by an Achilles problem – while he exp ects Harr y Co chrane back from the bout of illness that kept him out on Sunday.
Haring also expres sed his sympathy for injured teammate Lee.
“I watched the game on TV and they showed it a couple of times,” said tte Austrian. “It didn’t look good. I messaged h i m a f t e r t h e g a me a n d h e said it was quite sore and he was getting a scan.
“It’s ver y disappointing and I feel for him. When you have the chance to end the season w i t h t h e h i g h l i g h t o f y o u r career, it’s really disappointing.
“I’m prett y sure he will b e there to supp or t us in ever y way he can.”