Hearts are in talks with New Zealand international defender Tommy Smith as they seek cover for John Souttar.
The Scotland international suffered a devastating relapse of the achilles injury he picked up in February’s Scottish Cup quarter-final win over Rangers.
That would have ruled him out for the remainder of the season regardless of the shutdown, but he was back running and about to resume full training with Robbie Neilson ’s squad.
However, Hearts confirmed on Saturday that the 23-year-old had re-injured himself and was due to go for a scan to establish just how severe the damage is.
The Jambos had been forced to put training on pause by the Scottish football joint response as part of measures to ensure recent protocol branches by players at other clubs didn’t force a full shutdown once again.
Injured players and those not yet returned to full training were permitted to continue during that time however, although it’s come at a cost to Souttar.
This is the former Dundee United man’s sixth major injury since joining Hearts in 2016, having previously injured his other Achilles as well as suffering hip and ankle injuries.
With just Craig Halkett, Christophe Berra and youngster Chris Hamilton the recognised centre backs left, Neilson is in the market for another one.
And the Tynecastle club have made contact with Smith over a potential move.
The 30-year-old was most recently with Sunderland after a year with Colorado Rapids.
He started his career with Ipswich, making over 250 appearances for the Tractor Boys over 11 years, several of those spent as a teammate of Berra.
While Smith primarily operates in the centre of defence, he can also fill in at left back.
