Hearts boss Robbie Neilson hopes he can have John Souttar back for Saturday's league opener against Celtic.
The defender sat out of Sunday's Premier Sports Cup clash with Inverness Caley Thistle but he's confident that he can return for the Premiership clash at Tynecastle.
Souttar has had huge injury issues in recent seasons and needs to be looked after a bit more to ensure he's kept at his best level.
And that's why he was left out with Neilson feeling it wasn't worth the risk but hopes he can get back to the heart of the Hearts defence on Saturday.
He said: “John is fine. It was probably a wee bit too early today for him but he will train on Wednesday with a view to being ready for Saturday.
"I don't want to talk too much in case we jinx Craig’s clean sheets. He's been exceptional since day one when he came back here. He brings a calmness to the back four and if we need him he produces.”
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