Conor Washington is a doubt for Hearts’ Scottish Premiership opener against Aberdeen after suffering a freak eye injury.
The Hearts striker had to come off in the second half of Wednesday night’s 2-1 Betfred Cup win over Stenhousemuir at Tynecastle.
The injury occurred when the Northern Irish international saw a shot blocked that then ricocheted back and hit him in the face, causing some bleeding behind his eye.
Washington was rushed to hospital to discover the true extent of the damage. It’s understood he was then sent to a specialist on Thursday.
Hearts are now nervously waiting to see if their new number nine will be available for their trip to Pittodrie on 4 August.
It’s almost certain he won’t be in the squad for tomorrow’s trip to Methill to face East Fife, where a point will see Craig Levein’s team finish top of Group A.
Levein explained why Washington was immediately withdrawn on Wednesday night after it became apparent he’d injured his eye.
"Conor got a bang on his face and eye and has quite a lot of blood, bruising and swelling on his eye,” said the Hearts boss.
"The ball hit him bang in the face before he had a chance to protect himself.
"He was taken to to A & E and we’ll have to wait and see what’s happened."
For more Hearts content, like our Hearts Live Facebook page
