Knee bother as McCann hopes for Hearts return

HEARTS coach Valdas Ivanauskas today backed Neil McCann's decision to undergo surgery on his injured knee and insisted that he will return better than ever in time for pre-season.

The Tynecastle winger went under the knife yesterday afternoon in a bid to repair the medial ligament damage he suffered just 23 minutes into his comeback match against Kilmarnock back in January.

The ex-Southampton man, in his second spell at Tynecastle, has been out of action for the past three months but was close to making a return until he broke down in training a fortnight ago.

After consulting a specialist it was decided that an operation was the winger's best option, although he is expected to face a 12-week recovery period.

Ivanauskas is keen to have McCann back at full fitness but revealed the decision to go ahead with the surgery was left entirely up to the player.

He said: "The decision was left to Neil and he wanted the operation to give himself the chance to come back for pre-season.

"That is important for him and for the club and I think that doing it at this stage will mean that he is back in time to join us for pre-season so I believe it is a good choice for him.

"He has been out for two or three months and it has been very hard for him. He came back to the club in January and really wants to play so it has been very frustrating.

"In my opinion he will need around two months to recover and we look forward to having him back and fit again."

McCann himself admitted that, with Hearts gunning for European and Scottish Cup glory, the past three months have been among the most frustrating of his career.

It certainly has not been the happy return to Tynecastle that he had been hoping for but he insists he will be raring to go when he returns to full fitness.

McCann, who won the Scottish Cup in 1998 during his first stint at Hearts, said: "It was a big thing for me coming back to the club and it is horrible for me to sit and watch the team, but the main thing is that the team does well. They are in the Cup Final and we are in a very strong position.

"I won't really have a summer but I don't really care about that. I have had enough time off. My summer will be working hard to be ready for the new season.

"I had done everything I could with the physio to get fit and the knee was feeling good. The leg strength was fantastic, but two minutes before the end of training I went to make a pass and it went again.

"I could probably have carried on and had another injection," he continued, "but if it did not work it could again affect my recovery time and I want to be fit for next season."

Meanwhile, Hearts' reserves ended their league season in style with a comfortable 3-1 win over Kilmarnock at Forthbank Stadium. The visitors took the lead through Paul Di Giacomo, but Lee Johnson, Calum Elliot and Chris Hackett gave Hearts the win.

Taken from the Scotsman