Rocky Bushiri's message for Hibs colleague Harry McKirdy as defender speaks on Hearts bust-up

Rocky Bushiri insists everyone at Hibs is rallying around Harry McKirdy after the forward revealed he requires surgery on a heart issue, ruling him out of action for up to six months.

The Easter Road side confirmed the news with a statement, with the 26-year-old choosing to lift the lid on the reasons behind his enforced absence on social media. “Not the way you want to start a season but time to get the old ticker fixed. See you all at Christmas,” he wrote, underneath a picture of him in action for the Capital club.

Speaking from Hibs training camp in Marbella, Bushiri told the Daily Record: “It’s not nice and you don’t know for how long it is. Sometimes we think we are in good shape and we all take care of ourselves but there are things out of our control. In football everyone is different. Some take more time to settle than others – I had a difficult time to start as well.

"We have staff and people around him that will support him and make sure Harry comes back in the best shape. I sent him a message and said I was sad to hear his news, and that I hope he recovers well.”

Rocky Bushiri in action for Hibs during the pre-season friendly match with Edinburgh City. Picture: Craig Williamson / SNS Group

Bushiri has been involved in both of Hibs’ pre-season friendlies so far – victories against Edinburgh City at Meadowbank and Europa in Spain – and is free to play in the upcoming Europa Conference League matches, but he is suspended for the first two games of the new league campaign after his red card against Hearts in the final game of last season. Despite admitting his frustration with the ban, he claims he would do it again to stand up for his team.

"It’s not nice to miss the first two games but I’ll do my suspension. It’s frustrating because I’m working hard here and we are doing the shape for the start of the season but I’m not able to play the first two league games. I will stand up for my team always. It happens in football and you see it. We have forgotten about it. We’ve not spoken about it since. Let’s forget about Tynecastle, it’s a new season. It happened and it happens in football everywhere. You have to move on. "