HEARTS and Scotland forward Steven Naismith faces knee surgery, Tynecastle boss Craig Levein has confirmed.
The 32-year-old broke down injured early in his team’s Betfred Cup semi-final defeat by Celtic on Sunday and is set to be out for up to two months after a scan showed damage.
Levein said: “It looks like he’s got a little tear in his cartilage, which we suspected.”
When asked how long Naismith would be out, Levein said: “Maybe six to eight weeks or something like that – but I’m guessing.”
The news is a major blow for both club and country.
Hearts recently lost striker Uche Ikpeazu for five months with a foot injury, while Naismith has netted twice this season for Scotland and will miss the deciding two Nations League games against Albania and Israel.
National team boss Alex McLeish could also be without Leigh Griffiths for the upcoming double header.
The Celtic striker pulled out of the last squad to work on his fitness but has not featured for Celtic since amid illness and calf problems.
Levein said: “We’ve had a number of blows in the last three or four weeks so we will just have to cope with this one as well as we have done with the other ones.
“It does leave us a bit thin on the ground up top with Uche being out as well, but we’ll get by.”
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