Giovanni van Bronckhorst can’t put any timeline on when three of his biggest names will be back in action.
Filip Helander and Kemar Roofe are among the top earners at the club but were left out of their Champions League squad and have yet to play a match this season.
John Souttar’s problem is that he has played- hooked after 67 minutes of his debut away to Livingston with a mystery injury keeping him out the side as van Bronckhorst tries to fit James Sands, John Lundstram and Leon King into central defence.
With Sands suspended for the Champions League match away to Liverpool defence is going to be a major problem but there is no sign of a return for the former Hearts man.
The Daily Express reports van Bronckhorst saying:
John Souttar and Fil Helander will take longer. They won’t be back after the break or in the coming weeks. Kemar we will have to see. He is one of the players who can come back really quick or maybe take a longer time. It’s been like that for Kemar for the last months.
Tom (Lawrence) has a good chance to be available again. The break is good for him as he has two weeks extra to recover. I think it’s going to be close for Hearts but somewhere in the period after the break we should have him back.
Helander has started just 35 SPFL Premiership matches since being signed from Bologna in the summer of 2019. With his contract expiring in May he looks likely to quit Ibrox as a free agent next summer.
I remember when Helander was signed there were rumours he’d been offered to Celtic and it was Lustig that said to steer clear. If that’s true then we’ve a lot to thank Lustig for over and above his outstanding service to Celtic