'He's not far away' - Craig Levein gives update on key Hearts man and reveals injured quartet 'are improving'

Craig Levein is hopeful the return of injured players can help lift some of the pressure on him

The Austrian last kicked a ball for the Tynecastle side in last season's Scottish Cup final defeat by Celtic, after undergoing surgery on a pelvic issue.

But the 26-year-old has resumed training, with Levein telling the BBC: "He won't be far from coming back.

"Walker is improving, John [Souttar] is improving, Steven [Naismith] is improving.

"I think it will be two or three weeks before [Naismith] is back. We just decided to take him back out of training completely just to let the whole thing settle down."

The Hearts boss - who admits there is still work to do despite a morale-boosting win over rivals Hibs at Easter Road on Sunday - is hopeful that the return of his injured players can help lift some of the pressure on him.

He continued: "Ben Garuccio is getting better, and getting Michael Smith back in the team was a big thing for us. I thought his calmness in defence was very helpful.

"In the next couple of weeks I'm sure we'll start to see players coming back which makes me feel much better."

Hearts host Aberdeen in the Betfred Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday night, and Levein is fully focused on the task in hand.

"We have got work to do. I'm not celebrating - I didn't celebrate on Sunday, I didn't think it was appropriate," he explained.

"We just need to get ourselves back in a good position."