Bouzid's competitive edge not blunted by injury scare

ISMAEL BOUZID insists the injury he suffered against Millwall won't stop him going head to head with the opposition in the SPL this season.

The big defender was feared to have fractured his skull after a hefty kick from Steve Morison in the friendly match at the New Den last month.

A scan later revealed there was no break but the Hearts player, who was unable to move his neck for the first 24 hours, conceded that the wait for the all-clear from the specialist had been a terrifying one.

However, the Algerian stressed that he won't allow the experience to discourage him from going into challenges with his head in the coming weeks.

Bouzid, who was suspended for Hearts' first match of the season in any case, was expected to be back in the starting line-up against Hamilton this afternoon and said: "I have had a lot of injuries in my career. I have had my arm broken, I have had surgery on my back and other things too, so it is okay for me.

"If you get a kick in the same part then there is always a chance that the pain will come back and you will have the same problem but you try to forget that.

"I remember the ball coming in and I tried to fight to get to it but, after that, I don't remember what happened. It is difficult to explain but the shock was very hard, their player didn't take the ball, he took my head.

"I was conscious when I was stretchered off but I couldn't move very well, the area was swollen so it was a big problem for me. I didn't think about my career or what was going to happen in the future because I was very scared. You don't think about the future, you only think about the pain.

"I hope that I will be free of injury for the rest of the season. I want to protect myself and be okay now I hope.

"By the second day it was much better and now I am very good, very well, and I am happy to be back in training. I am looking forward to my first game.

"I was suspended last week so it was good in that way but now it is good to be back in the squad and I am very well again."

Recalling the immediate aftermath of the challenge, Bouzid continued: "The first half hour after the injury was very difficult for me because I had suffered a very hard kick and the shock was very hard, it was not good for me.

"On that first day I couldn't move my head very well, but the second day it was better and the doctor told me that I didn't have a fracture.

"When I was in accident and emergency, the doctor told me that he thought it was a fracture. I couldn't move my head at that point and I was scared. The doctor told me that he had never seen a fracture in that area of someone's head before and so it was a big panic for me."When the specialist told me there was no fracture it was good, but he told me that I had to relax for some days and to be careful."

Bouzid and club physio, Rob Marshall, spent the night in London awaiting results of the scan from a specialist before flying home 24 hours after the rest of his team-mates. However, he had to wait a further four days before he could rejoin them in training: "It was a very long night for me in London - I definitely won't forget it. Sometimes these things can happen in football and it is not my first injury in my career.

"The hospital was very small and very full, I think a lot of people had been fighting that night! I was still wearing my Hearts jersey when I arrived and it was like something out of a movie. People were being brought in by the police, it is funny now when I think back to it but at the time it wasn't so funny. I had no idea when I would play again because I have never seen or heard of a fracture in that part of your head. The physio asked the doctor what would happen if I did have a fracture in that part of my head but he didn't know because he had never seen anything like it in his life.

"He called a specialist who looked at the X-rays and he said everything was okay because it wasn't fractured.

"I was very happy with that. The physio and I stayed in London overnight to see the specialist the next day and then flew back home to relax.

"I was told that I had to wait and see how my head was.

"If you get a kick in the same area again it can be more dangerous. But he said one week of relaxing should be enough and after four or five days of relaxing.

"That felt like it was long enough for me and I spoke with the physio and the doctor to tell them that I felt better.

"It was agreed that I could train and see how I felt and now everything is okay."