Hearts defender Callum Paterson out for up to 10 months with knee ligament injury
Wednesday 28 December 2016 18:38, UK
Hearts defender Callum Paterson has been ruled out for up to 10 months after sustaining a knee ligament injury in the win over Kilmarnock on Tuesday.
The Scotland international opened the scoring in the 4-0 victory at Tynecastle before being stretchered off after 12 minutes when he jarred his left knee while making a tackle, with scans on Wednesday revealing the extent of the injury.
A club statement said Paterson will now go for an operation "as soon as possible" in January before starting his rehabilitation. He was sidelined for two months after requiring surgery to repair medial ligament damage in the same knee in 2014.
Paterson took to Twitter after news of the scan results was revealed and vowed to return after a spell on the sidelines.
"Absolutely gutted with the scan results. But these things happen in life. I will be back," he tweeted.
The 22-year-old fullback has scored 10 goals for the Edinburgh side this season and has been the subject of transfer interest from the likes of Wigan and Derby.
Hearts director of football Craig Levein recently confirmed the club were looking for a seven-figure fee for Paterson, whose contract expires at the end of the season.
Head coach Ian Cathro said the club would help Paterson through his injury lay-off.
"It's a bad one for Callum and everyone here is gutted for him," Cathro told heartsfc.co.uk. "There was real concern for him last night and unfortunately that concern has been compounded with the news that he could be out for up to 10 months.
"Callum's a top class player and we'll miss him in the first-team, but we now have to look to those within the squad to step up and fill the void. We'll help Callum as much as we can though this difficult time."
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