Hearts manager Craig Levein has spoken of the role Manchester United are playing in Joel Pereira's injury recovery following his loan move to the Scottish club.
The Portuguese goalkeeper has made a positive start to life at Hearts with encouraging displays against both Motherwell and Celtic, but has been left sidelined by an injury he picked up at Celtic Park.
Pereira played the entire 90 minutes against the Scottish champions two weeks but was left sidelined after he tore a thigh muscle during the 3-1 defeat.
Levein had hope Pereira would be available to face Motherwell again next week however a recent scan during his rehabilitation at United has cast fresh doubt over his fitness.
“Joel has got a low-grade muscle tear, which is normally 12 to 14 days,” the Hearts manager said.
“Manchester United scanned him again the other day and he has improved but he hasn’t started explosive work yet. That means things like jumping off that leg and kicking.
“They will scan him again next week and, if he has improved, they will send him back up the road to us. However, there will be a process he will need to go through and a certain amount of checks done before they send him back. I think he might struggle for Motherwell. If they aren’t doing that kind of work just now, then it’s unlikely he will be perfect in a week’s time."
