John Souttar Hearts recovery time pencilled in after defender has successful surgery on injury

John Souttar is recovering from an Achilles injury.

Hearts defender John Souttar is expected to return in August after successful surgery to repair his ruptured Achilles tendon.

He is recovering from the injury for the second time in his career having undergone an operation in London.

Estimations are that he should be fit to resume playing in late August, or possibly into September.

Recuperation time is predicted to be six months from the time of the injury, which took place on February 29 when Hearts beat Rangers in the Scottish Cup at Tynecastle Park.

It is the second time in three years that Souttar, 23, suffered the same problem.

He was out for the same period of time after being stretchered off against Celtic with a ruptured Achilles in January 2017. He came back in July that year.

He also missed most of the first half of this season due to an ankle problem and was absent for a few months last year due to a hip issue.

When fit, Souttar has been an integral part of the Hearts team, making 124 appearances since his 2016 move from Dundee United and being capped three times by Scotland.

His rehab begins with the Scottish football season suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus outbreak.

UEFA want all domestic seasons to be completed by the end of June, but there is real doubt over whether that will be possible.