Thigh injury halts Hearts' Driver fitness bid

HEARTS have been dealt a new blow after Andrew Driver suffered a setback in his battle to return to full fitness.

The winger, who had surgery on his knee in the summer, has been back in training for a couple of weeks and made his first appearance in a maroon jersey this season in a bounce game against St Johnstone on Tuesday. However his comeback did not go to plan as he strained his thigh during that match and the 22-year-old has been sent for scans to determine the extent of the problem.

Although the injury is not related to the one which required him to go under the knife, the news will come as a huge blow to Driver, who has been plagued by a series of injuries for nearly 18 months.

Hearts manager Jim Jefferies said: "He was just pushing himself hard to get back. It is a thigh strain and nothing to do with the knee injury.

"It has set him back a wee bit. We're getting him scanned and we'll see how he is after the international break."

Meanwhile Hearts have appointed their former marketing and communications director, David Southern, as their new managing director. The 44-year-old has been a member of the club's senior management team since joining the Tynecastle side back in August in 2005.

He said: "I have always viewed it as a privilege to work with Hearts and I fully plan to continue to play my part in strengthening our off-field position.

"Football is a challenging business environment both domestically and globally, however I am confident that Hearts are well placed to benefit from some of the predicted future changes in Scottish and European football."