MX23RW : Friday, June 28 10:22:28| >> :600:1542132:1542132:

Craig Levein "quite confident" over Uche Ikpeazu fitness

Ikpeazu left the pitch with a hamstring injury during the 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock.

Hearts manager Craig Levein insists he is fairly confident Uche Ikpeazu will be available for the Scottish Cup final against Celtic despite suffering a hamstring scare in the 1-0 defeat against Kilmarnock.

However, he admits he may wrap the Englishman in cotton wool until the May 25 showpiece.

There was a collective intake of breath around Tynecastle on Saturday as Ikpeazu pulled up after 48 minutes and immediately indicated he could not continue, clutching his hamstring.

However, Levein revealed it was a precautionary move after the player had already informed him of some slight discomfort during the interval.

The Jambos medical staff will monitor the former Cambridge man in the coming days to ascertain whether he will be able to play any part in the remaining two Ladbrokes Premiership games of the season, but he expects Ikpeazu to be in contention for the Hampden clash.

Levein said: "Uche's hamstring was a bit tight at half-time but he felt he could go back out and try it. He started running on it and just felt it tighten at the start of the second half.

"I had told him if he felt anything to give us the shout as there was no point in carrying on and making it worse.

"I'm quite confident we have not got any serious issue or damage there. He didn't pull up or clutch the back of the hamstring or writhe about in agony like he normally would.

"I'm fairly confident he will be good and fully fit for the Scottish Cup final. These things tend to be minimum 10 to 14 days. We've tested the strength of his hamstring and it is good."

Without Ikpeazu, Hearts went on to succumb to a last-gasp defeat against Kilmarnock, with Stuart Findlay rattling a superb strike beyond Zdenek Zlamal to secure a pivotal three points in the race for Europe.

The win sees Killie leapfrog Aberdeen into third spot going into the final two matches of the season.

Victorious boss Steve Clarke said: "Objective one was to stay in the league, which we did comfortably. Objective two was to secure back-to-back top six places.

"The third objective was to beat last year's points tally and we've done that too.

"Everything I ask the players to do they keep doing. I've run out of objectives after the third one! I'm sure between now and seeing the lads again on Tuesday we'll come up with another one."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association Sport Staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '997ab7bd-3582-45e2-906a-3505c304d6d5');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:match-reports');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Hearts boss Levein hopeful Ikpeazu will be fit for Scottish Cup final'});

ID:358247: cacheID:358247:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:5125:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke pictured on May 5, 2018
Read Next:
Clarke pays tribute to players after manager nomination
>
rhs 2.0
Euro 2024 fixtures header
Saturday, June 29
 
5pm
 
8pm
Sunday, June 30
 
5pm
 
8pm
Monday, July 1
 
5pm
 
8pm
Tuesday, July 2
 
5pm
 
8pm
Friday, July 5
Saturday, July 6
Tuesday, July 9
Wednesday, July 10
Sunday, July 14
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Germany Germany32107
Q Switzerland Switzerland31205
3 Hungary Hungary31023
4 Scotland flag Scotland30121

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain33009
Q Italy Italy31114
3 Croatia Croatia30212
4 Albania national flag Albania30121

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England31205
Q Denmark Denmark30303
Q Slovenia Slovenia30303
4 Serbia Serbia30212

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Austria Austria32016
Q France France31205
Q Netherlands Netherlands31114
4 Poland Poland30121

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania31114
Q Belgium Belgium31114
Q Slovakia Slovakia31114
4 Ukraine Ukraine31114

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal32016
Q Turkey Turkey32016
Q Georgia Georgia31114
4 Czech Republic Czech Republic30121


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!