Wouter Vrancken is braced for a spell of problem-solving after losing his first-choice midfield pairing of Tom Renaud and Blair Spittal to long-term injuries in quick succession.
Frenchman Renaud suffered ankle damage in the recent Conference League play-off victory away to Rapid Vienna, while it emerged over the weekend that Spittal, one of the Jambos’ vice-captains, sustained a similarly serious shin injury in Thursday’s Edinburgh derby triumph away to Hibernian.
Both are facing several months on the sidelines.
“I’m always pretty harsh on everybody around me and the staff, for example, when we have some muscle injuries, because I think we as a staff have a responsibility to manage those things, the load and stuff like this,” said Vrancken. “But those two are like trauma injuries; it’s just been unlucky.
“With Tom, someone fell on him, and with Spitts in the movement, when you saw the image, maybe his leg was double, and so you cannot do anything about those. This is the most frustrating thing, of course, when you lose two players who are making the steps.
“Spitts is a player who, from the first moment, felt comfortable in what we were asking and doing. You saw him growing in all the games, and his level was really good, so it’s always disappointing to lose this player.
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“And Tom, coming from the beginning of the season towards when he got injured, was making steps forward and doing the things we want. So it’s a pity, but I’m not the guy who’s going in a corner to start crying about those things.”
Laurent Mendy and Tomas Magnusson started in midfield in Sunday’s 2-1 win over Dundee, but those two are more defensively-minded than Renaud and Spittal, and they struggled to have the same impact.
Long-term injury victim Ageu is nearing a return to action and would provide an obvious solution when fit, while Oisin McEntee, who can play in midfield, has been excelling at centre-back recently.
Jordi Altena, Calvin Miller and Sabri Guendouz are among those who could be redeployed in midfield, but it remains to be seen if Hearts, who have both domestic and Conference League commitments to juggle, will enter the free-agent market.
“This is a thing for the club,” said Vrancken. “I think we’re really thin there, from my perspective. A guy like Ageu, of course, you want to have him as soon as possible, but we cannot skip steps, and at any moment you bring him, we have to look out for him.
“We cannot rush it with him, that’s for sure, because otherwise we take too much risk with the player, and that’s something I for sure don’t want to do. But we have to solve it. Other guys have to step up.”
