Smith baffled by Hearts injury jinx
● Versatile Northern Irishman proving indispensable for club after Halkett becomes latest player to be sidelined
Michael Smith has played left and right back, as a wing back, in midfield and now in the centre of a three-man defence. But his versatility has its limits. Sadly, he cannot be in two places at once.
The Northern Ireland international could already be rated one of Hearts’ best signings of recent times. Not bad for a free transfer from Peterborough United. But his worth is currently proving incalculable. He will continue to be indispensable as players continue to fall all around him.
The latest is Craig Halkett, who lined up to Smith’s right in a three-man defence against St Mirren on Saturday. He lasted just 24 minutes before succumbing to a serious knee ligament injury that could sideline him until next year. It was particularly cruel after Halkett received a significant boost so soon in his Tynecastle career by being named skipper by manager Craig Levein, with Christophe Berra relegated to the bench.
“He has been in great form
“I can’t put my finger onit.noonecan otherwise we’d have changed something to cut them out. It is not going away”
MICHAEL SMITH
and is a great lad around the place,” said Smith. “The gaffer gave him the armband – that shows what kind of affect he has around the place.
“He is a great guy. I don’t know what is going on – we are cursed with injuries.” It does seem this way. The current casualty list stretches to nine – and they are all players who could reasonably be termed first-teamers. As many as five, including Halkett, could be termed key men.
“A good five-a-side team, eh?” said Smith, pictured inset. “There are three or four really close to coming back, so after the international break we will have Naisy [Steven Naismith] back, Walksy [Jamie Walker] nearly back, Craig Wighton nearly, and John Souttar– I am not so sure. Conor Washington is a bit longer and it remains to be seen about Halks. It is a fair whack of a good team there.”
They have nearly all been felled by injuries sustained during matches, which is unusual in itself. No sooner had Halkett departed on Saturday than the substitute board was going up again, with Loic Damour limping off past an incredulous Levein. The manager has been forced to make substitutions due to injury before the second half in six of his team’s last nine matches.
“It must just be bad luck,” said Smith. “We have had the training pitches tested for hardness, they are perfect really. We have no complaints about the training pitches. I can’t put my finger on it. No one can otherwise we would have changed something to cut them out. It is not going away.”
Smith has been ably assisted by the similarly versatile Aaron Hickey, the two-footed teenager who reacted to the news he would be playing on the left of a threeman defence – essentially as a left-sided centre half – with a shrug of his shoulders, as if to say: ‘yes, why not?’ He later switched to the other side to accommodate Berra. Little fazes him. Not a Scottish Cup final. Not an Edinburgh derby. And not a trip to Paisley, his third start in six days.
Despite Halkett’s misfortune, Hearts’ troubles seemed more 2 Craig Halkett is replaced by Christophe Berra after suffering a knee ligament injury against St Mirren. evident in the wide areas than defence as they toiled to break St Mirren down. Callumn Morrison and Jake Mulraney had little of the success they enjoyed in midweek against Aberdeen. Smith was regularly picking out both wingers with impressive accuracy from the back. He didn’t miss them afterwards either.
“Maybe that final ball they do have to work on a little bit,” he said. “Jake’s ball for the goal v Aberdeen the other night, I thought he would have come out and put a lot more decent balls in. But I think the week has taken its toll on everyone, three games in six days or whatever. We will have a rest now and then we have to win next week [against Kilmarnock] before going into the international break.”
The break cannot come soon enough. Once it looked perilous for Levein, given the number of times clubs take the opportunity to dispense with managers in such interludes. Now it’s an opportunity to rest and reload. Levein’s future seems assured after three performances that have yielded four points and a semifinal place. Not bad, all things considered.
St Mirren’s frustrations are essentially their own making. Points are being thrown away because they are currently unable to complement their solid defending with clinical finishing. Indeed, goalscoring chances have been few and far between in two successive home matches where they have drawn a blank while keeping clean sheets.
“There are boys who are just getting used to the league,” said full-back Paul Mcginn. “I don’t want a worldy. One wee minging goal would do… a wee shin roller.”