Craig Halkett has revealed he burst into TEARS after a phone call from the Hearts physio to tell him his season was OVER.
The Jambos stopper has had what he describes as a nightmare season. It all started with an ankle operation following the Scottish Cup Final defeat to Rangers last term that resulted in him falling behind in pre-season. A hamstring injury followed before he did it for the second time before suffering a nine month period on the sidelines because of a cruciate.
His injury-hit campaign has been a blow for Robbie Neilson as the stopper opened up on what has been going on behind the scenes. He's now three weeks on from the surgery and has been able to get off the crutches in a major boost. That's the first milestone hit in the long road to recovery as the 27-year-old bids to come back stronger than ever. He's not the only long term absentee with skipper and influential Craig Gordon also out until the end of the current campaign.
READ MORE: Hearts target Callum Paterson fires Sheffield Wednesday top but injury blow 'doesn't look good'
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He told the Scottish Sun: “This season has been a nightmare for me. I got an ankle operation after the Scottish Cup final last year and that put me behind the rest of the boys in pre-season.
“I got back and did my hamstring, which wasn’t great. Then I did it a second time and I was out again. In the game at Tannadice, I was just shielding the ball and I felt a slight wobble in my knee.
“It wasn’t agony or anything like it, but I knew something wasn’t right, like I had hyperextended it. It was a movement I would do plenty of times in a game.
“So I’d never have imagined, at any point, that I would be facing nine months out because of my cruciate. The week after I got the scan back, I was in the car when the physio called to tell me the season was over.
“I burst into tears and it took a few days to sink in because I’ve never had a serious injury like this before.
“It had been stop-start, but I knew I would be back in four or six weeks, which wasn’t the end of the world. But trying to come to terms with the news it was eight or nine months was hard to take.
“It’s now three weeks since the surgery and everything has gone really well. I have been able to get off of the crutches, which is the first milestone and I can now move a bit more freely.
“I just have to take it one step at a time because I have a long road ahead of me.”
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