Calem Nieuwenhof's Hearts situation explained
Fans are awaiting the Australian midfielder’s return
Calem Nieuwenhof is now fit and available for Hearts after nearly 11 months out with a hamstring injury. The club are choosing his reintroduction to competitive football carefully and cautiously, however. Management won’t throw him into the starting line-up without gradually increasing his involvement as a substitute first.
Nieuwenhof was close to making the substitutes’ bench for Hearts’ 3-2 Premiership win over Kilmarnock last Saturday. Instead, the decision was taken to include him in a training session that morning. He is now in contention for a place in the squad ahead of this weekend’s trip to Dundee.
“I don't know if he will be in the squad but he is available for selection,” the Hearts head coach Neil Critchley confirmed to the Edinburgh News. “He's been training now for a couple of weeks, we gave him a bounce game last week, and he came through that by playing 70 minutes. We trained him on Saturday morning rather than putting him in the squad to play Kilmarnock. We felt he would benefit more from training than sitting on the bench. Calem is in a good place and is training well. If called upon, he is available for selection.”
Nieuwenhof’s last Hearts appearance was against Celtic on 3 March last year. He tore a hamstring which required surgery, and a summer setback prevented the Australian midfielder taking part in pre-season training. Fans are now eagerly awaiting his return after impressive performances prior to the injury.
“We always make the player's interests paramount in our decision-making. That's critical when we are thinking about what's right for Calem. That's why he trained last Saturday morning,” explained Critchley. “He could easily have been on the bench but we felt that he might not come on in that game, so therefore he would benefit more from having a tough training session. I always try to do what I think is right for the player, but we also have to think about what we need as a team.
“We have options in the middle of the pitch at the moment. Calem is going to be one of them. I've been really impressed with him since he returned to full training. I know he was doing extremely well prior to the injury. Now it's just that next stage of reintroducing him back into the squad, getting him minutes on the pitch if the opportunity arises and he is deserving of that. Then we can manage him back to full fitness.”