Hearts explain why Calem Nieuwenhof was left out of their 42-man European squad
The Australian midfielder has not played since March
Calem Nieuwenhof’s absence from Hearts’ UEFA Conference League squad raised concerns about the Australian’s long-term fitness following a hamstring injury. However, these were allayed today by head coach Steven Naismith, who revealed the reason he left Nieuwenhof out of the 42-man group.
The midfielder has not played since March after an operation and suffered a setback during the summer as Hearts prepared to start the new season. He is now back training individually at Riccarton but is still a number of weeks away from returning to the first team.
Naismith registered his European squad for the Conference League on Thursday, with six ties to come in the tournament’s new-look league phase during October, November and December. Nieuwenhof did not make it, likewise Spanish forward Musa Drammeh and third-choice goalkeeper Ryan Fulton.
Nieuwenhof is expected to be back in action before the autumn ends but requires time. He must go through his own pre-season programme to hone fitness and then work on extra sharpness before he can be considered for first-team duty. Discussing his absence from the European squad, Naismith outlined the reasoning.
“It's the level of player we've got in the squad, plus where he is at. He is back on the pitch but working individually. He is not with the group,” Naismith explained to the Edinburgh News. “With his injury being a much longer injury due to the setback, when he comes back into training he's going to have a few weeks of pre-season-type training to make sure he's robust enough.
“Then, on top of that, you are talking about him getting enough minutes in games. By the time you are getting to the end of the league phase in Europe, there's no real chance. You couldn't say: 'He might miss the first two games, but he's going to be there for the next four.' That's where the decision came from. What it will do is keep his importance for the league games on the Sunday. He will come into contention for them once he is back fit. We will need him to be ready.”