Hearts boss Robbie Neilson outlines plan for John Souttar return

Hearts boss Robbie Neilson is reluctant to put a timescale on when John Souttar will make his next appearance for the club.

Robbie Neilson has a plan for John Souttar's return. Picture: SNS

The defender took a positive step in his recovery from a ruptured Achilles this week, returning to first-team training, taking part in group ball work sessions.

However, he isn’t quite ready to partake in a full training session. The plan to build his time on the training field in conjunction with the continuation of his rehab.

“We’re absolutely delighted to get John back,” Neilson said.

“He’s still continuing his rehab, so one of the things for us was getting him back in with the group to keep his motivation going.

“But also to give the rest of the squad a lift because he is a big character.

“He has had a tough couple of years so the first couple of days it has been five minutes, then he got up to ten, and now we’re at 25-30 minutes training with the group, and then he goes away and does his conditioning work.

“That will continue over the course of the next four weeks.

“And then we’ll look to introduce him to full training and expose him to the high end of it.

“So he’s still a wee bit away but we’re very pleased with the way he’s progressing.”

One of the best in Scotland

The aim remains for Souttar to make a full return for pre-season but such has been his progress that he could be back sooner.

However, with the player’s injury record, Neilson is keen to protect someone he values as one of the best centre-backs in Scotland.

“Right from the very start the objective was to get him back for pre-season,” he said. “If we can get him back ahead of that we’ll be delighted.

“But John has had a very difficult couple of years with injuries and coming back and playing again. So I don’t want to put any kind of timescale on it at all.

“I just want to make sure he’s 100 per cent fit and that we can give him the best possible opportunity to progress his career, because in my opinion he is one of the best centre-halves in the country.

“So it’s up to us to make sure we get him fit and keep him fit.”