Odel Offiah suffers another health scare causing Hearts' on-loan Brighton defender to miss Rangers tie

Medical staff say the player is okay and he attended Hampden Park on Sunday

Hearts defender Odel Offiah missed Sunday's Viaplay Cup semi-final against Rangers after suffering another health scare. The on-loan Brighton player took ill during a training session at Riccarton near the end of last week and was not part of Hearts' matchday squad at Hampden Park.

He was taken off the field and underwent checks by Hearts' medical staff as per guidelines before being given the all-clear. He then travelled to Hampden to support his team-mates during the 3-1 defeat. His place in the Hearts squad was taken by Adam Forrester, the 18-year-old right-back who was an unused substitute in the match after being promoted from the club's B team.

It is hoped Offiah will be able to resume training in the next week or two. A similar incident involving the 21-year-old occurred in September when he was taken to hospital. Thankfully, he recovered quickly to reclaim a place in Hearts' starting line-up.

He has made nine appearances in total since arriving in Gorgie in August on a season-long loan agreement. Brighton are monitoring events from afar and are being kept fully up to date on Offiah's progress. They gave the player a new contract until June 2025 before sending him north to Scotland.

Hearts resume their Premiership campaign this weekend with a visit to ninth-placed Motherwell. A victory there could push the Edinburgh club up into fourth place in the table before the international break. They then face St Johnstone - who appointed former Hearts manager Craig Levein as their new boss on Sunday - at Tynecastle when domestic fixtures restart later in the month.