Craig Halkett insists Hearts didn’t rush him back from injury against RFS as he hopes to make his return to action against the same opposition.
The defender was first injured during the first leg of the Jambos’ Europa League playoff defeat against FC Zurich, leaving the pitch after just six minutes with a hamstring injury. His absence has been keenly felt, with Hearts currently on a six-match winless runs and shipping goals in Europe and domestically.
He was back for the Europa Conference League clash in Latvia, but didn’t last much longer as he had to come off again. The centre back hasn’t been seen in maroon since as Robbie Neilson deals with a defensive injury crisis. Kye Rowles has also been out since August while Nathaniel Atkinson, Michael Smith, Lewis Neilson, Stephen Kingsley, Alex Cochrane and Toby Sibbick have all been missing at some point due to injury or suspension.
However Halkett is hopeful he’ll be back for Thursday night under the lights in Gorgie. It will be Hearts’ final home Group A clash before jetting to Istanbul next week.
“It's been a bit of a slow process, but everything is going well now,” Halkett told the Edinburgh Evening News. “I've been back outside for a couple of weeks and starting to ease my way back into full training, so hopefully not too much longer.
“I don't really have a goal in mind, to be honest. It's not 'it's going to be four weeks, it's going to be two weeks' it's just about taking every day as it comes. Then the decision will likely be made two or three days before the game whenever I'm fully ready to come back.
“It was the hamstring problem both times, really. I did get a calf issue but that was just a minor thing which cleared up after a few days and it's just been the hamstring again. It's just been something that's been quite niggling and is taking its time to get back to 100 per cent.
“I wasn't rushed back at all for the game in Riga. I felt fine. I'd done training the night before.
“I think if we're looking at the bigger picture it goes back to the end of last season where I delayed surgery on my ankle to play in the cup final. It was just more about missing a couple of weeks of pre-season. I was behind the rest of the squad.
"Obviously I managed to get through three or four games at the start of the season without anything, but I was always in a higher risk category of picking up an injury just because I'd done a wee bit less training than everyone else. It was more about that rather than being rushed back.”
Having to sit on the sidelines as his teammates reap the rewards of last season has been tough. It’s not been much easier on the pitch, with Hearts on the wrong end of heavy defeats to Fiorentina home and away, as well as Istanbul Basaksehir.
They are hoping to replicate their result in Latvia on home soil. That would keep their slim hopes of making it out of the group alive, providing Fiorentina don’t win in Turkey.
Halkett added: “We've obviously worked so hard last season to get into third place and play in Europe. Everyone has been so excited to play in it, so it's been frustrating from that point of view.
"And then there's missing all the games in the league and results the last three or four weeks haven't been great. There have been some good performances in there but we haven't been picking up as many points as we would've liked. It's been tough sitting on the side watching the games. Hopefully it's not going to be too much longer.
“It's been tough. We've had some new signings come in. Lewis Neilson has come in and done well, and obviously Toby (Sibbick) has been there as well. With them and (Stephen) Kingsley, if you make up the combinations there's probably been five or six different variations of a back four which has played this year. For any team, no matter what level, that's really tough to deal with.
“The boys are doing the best they can. I think with stuff like this it just takes a while to kind of glue. Obviously we conceded a few goals on Saturday (in the 4-3 loss to Celtic), which isn't ideal, but I think everybody could see from the performance levels that we're still sticking at it. It'll just take a bit of time.”
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