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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
Sport
Steven Mair

Harry Cochrane reflects on Hearts 'scariest moment' and admits infamous Scott Brown tussle left him fearing a broken neck

Former Hearts star Harry Cochrane knows his bright smile and new set of gnashers means he'll never be one of football's hard men like Celtic legend Scott Brown.

But the former Parkhead captain left a lasting impression on the 20-year-old - as he admits his collarbone is still out of place after a brutal hit sustained in January 2018.

The Jambos manager at the time, Craig Levein, was incensed at the time and remarked: "Everybody should get a little bit more protection from Scott Brown."

It came just weeks after Cochrane, then only 16 years old, was the star of the show in a 4-0 win at Tynecastle that ended the 69-game unbeaten run accrued by Brown, Celtic and manager Brendan Rodgers over the previous one and a half seasons.

And speaking to The Athletic, he said: "Levein used to say to me, ‘He’ll try to get in your head. Don’t let him’.

"People do that, and I’ve tried it before, but it doesn’t work for me with my smiley face and these teeth.

"My collar bone is still out of place from that – it sticks out more.

"I was on the ground when they scored and I was thinking I had broken my neck as it went into a spasm. It was the scariest moment of my life.

There were high hopes for Cochrane after his goal against the Hoops aged just 16 but he's got plenty of time yet (SNS)

"I got put on the bed and the nurses put two big weights either side of my head and said, ‘Whatever you do, don’t move your head’.

"It was about four or five hours from it happening until I got out of the hospital at 2am. I had my phone in my hand at that point and I dropped it straight onto my face.

"I was nearly crying. It felt like I couldn’t do anything right."

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