Hearts suffer massive double blow

Hearts will be without John Souttar and Uche Ikpeazu until well into the new year.

The Edinburgh side face Celtic in the Betfred Cup and SPFL later this month and will have to make major adjustments to their side which has been without Christophe Berra since August.

Souttar picked up a hip injury on Scotland duty while Ikpeazu has been suffering from a foot injury.

“John will be out for five or six months,” Craig Levein told The Sun.

“He landed awkwardly and tore the lining of his hip, which is a blow.

“While we’re on it, Uche will be out for five months as well.

“This problem we’ve had with his foot we’ve managed to finally get to the bottom of.

“It’s a really obscure problem which needs an operation.”

Hearts face Aberdeen tomorrow, Dundee on Tuesday then take on Celtic in a double header.

The Edinburgh side lost 3-1 to Sevco at Ibrox in their last outing to see their lead at the top of the table cut down to just two points.

After winning their first six SPFL matches the odds on a Hearts title win were slashed down to 10/1 but points dropped against Livingston and Sevco have lengthened those odds.

There was some good news for Hearts fans with Steven Naismith named as Ladbrokes Player of the Month for September, the striker is on a season long loan from Norwich City.