Pin put in Levein's hand after outburst

ANGUS WRIGHT

CRAIG Levein has revealed that he had a pin inserted in his injured hand after he lashed out in the dressing-room following Hearts’ 2-0 defeat by Motherwell last weekend.

The Tynecastle head coach was so frustrated by his side’s performance that he punched a tactics board at Fir Park and had to be taken to Wishaw General Hospital to have a bone in his hand reset.

"I was extremely frustrated," Levein said. "We could have gone top of the league."

While he did not require stitches, the injury clearly caused him a lot of pain. "I got a pin in it to hold it together," he told Hearts News. "It was something born out of frustration. It was not the cleverest thing I’ve ever done."

Levein also spoke yesterday for the first time about the proposed takeover of Hearts by Vladimir Romanov. The Lithuanian banker has held talks with Hearts’ major shareholders in a bid to buy a controlling interest in the club.

"I don’t know anything about these people - whether they have money or what their plans are, so rather than speculate I’ll just wait and see," Levein said.

"Obviously, if it transpires that a deal is to be done then I would like to know exactly what their plans are for the club, but until anything happens there’s not much I can say."

Levein also revealed that striker Mark de Vries is back in training after recovering from a hamstring injury, although the coach is still undecided about whether to play him in Saturday’s Festival Cup match with Hibs.

Kevin McKenna underwent surgery on his knee yesterday and will be out for four to six weeks. There is also a concern over Patrick Kisnorbo who has a groin problem.

Meanwhile, two more Hearts games have been switched for television coverage. The New Year derby with Hibs at Easter Road has been postponed for 24 hours and will now take place on Sunday, 2 January. The match with Celtic at Tynecastle on 27 December has been brought forward a day and will now be played on Boxing Day. Both games will kick off at 2pm and will be shown on Setanta.

Taken from the Scotsman