Flogel set to sit out Dons clash through injury

INJURED Hearts midfielder Thomas Flogel should be fit to face Livingston at Almondvale next Saturday - if he fails to recover in time for this weekend’s clash with Aberdeen at Tynecastle.

The Austrian internationalist is a major doubt for the visit of Ebbe Skovdahl’s side after limping out of the first half of the Tennent’s Scottish Cup win over Ross County.

The Austrian internationalist was carried off in agony midway through the first half of the third-round tie with an ankle injury and although he was able to resume after treatment, he was forced off before the break.

Flogel has since been receiving treatment but Levein is not optimistic about having the 30-year-old available for Saturday as Hearts look to stretch their impressive unbeaten run to seven games.

"The fact that he was able to continue for a wee while after the injury on Saturday suggested it wasn’t something to keep him out for a while," said Levein.

"Thomas is improving and we will see how he is towards the end of the week. He has been responding to the treatment and did some running yesterday although it is still a bit early. He must be considered a
doubt for the weekend’s game against Aberdeen although if he doesn’t make it I would be hopeful he would be okay for the following week."

The players returned to training today after a well earned two-day break following the hectic but rewarding festive period, the Jambos having chalked up four victories and a draw in the five matches over the Christmas and New Year spell.

"The guys have been working hard during what has been a tough run of games," added Levein.

"Hopefully they will have benefited from the rest and it will now be a case of us getting things up to speed as quickly as possible before Saturday."

Levein admits that although the injury isn’t serious, it has still come at an unfortunate time with the Austrian relishing a new position behind the front two.

"We have been looking for someone to fill that role for a while and maybe in Thomas we have finally found the right person," he said.

"The knock he picked up was unlucky but we’ll just get on with things and see how he is for the weekend."

Scott Severin has also been receiving treatment on an ankle problem which flared up after Monday’s training session.

The Scotland midfielder should still be okay for Saturday, though, with Levein confident the trouble is nothing serious.

Before picking up the injury, Severin had been due to play yesterday in a rearranged under-21 game against Motherwell at Fir Park in a bid to build up his match fitness.

However, the game was put back again in any case due to the Steelmen’s SPL clash with Dundee last night.

The second-string meeting has now been pencilled for this Monday at Fir Park (kick-off 7pm).

Dons boss Ebbe Skovdahl, meanwhile, is hoping to bring his dreadful run of results against Hearts in the Capital to an end this weekend.

The Dons have failed to score a single goal against Hearts at Tynecastle since the Dane took over at Pittodrie and he said: "There has been a lot of talk about how many home wins we have had in a row and there has been talk about our poor away results.

"Saturday is a difficult game at Tynecastle where, in my time, we haven’t picked up any points, so that is a challenge. It is time we got something out of that but Hearts are playing on a high with confidence so it will be tough."

Taken from the Scotsman