Hearts suffer Tullberg injury setback

MIKE TULLBERG has suffered a setback in his attempts to recover from a ruptured thigh muscle and may now require further specialist treatment in his native Denmark.

The striker, loaned to Hearts from the Italian side Reggina this season, was forced to abort his return to training at Riccarton on Sunday after complaining of recurring pain from the torn quad.

Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo will now consult club medical staff and sport director Anatoli Korobochka before deciding on the best course of action for Tullberg, who has made just two appearances this season.

Laszlo told the Evening News that a return to Denmark is probable. The player sought help for the same injury in his homeland in September from Thomas Macon, the private physio of Denmark's WBA super-middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler.

"Mike Tullberg still has the same problem and we must make a decision on him," said Laszlo. "I will speak with the doctors, physios and with the sport director maybe today or tomorrow, but we must have a quick solution.

"It might be best for the player to go back to Denmark and see a specialist there, but we will make a decision on this. I hope Mike can come back into the team quickly but he must be free of injury first.

"The player wants to come back but he still has this muscle problem. He tried to train on Sunday but told me he was still getting pain from his muscle and had to stop. We want him fit so we will do what is best for Mike."

Laszlo has welcomed Larry Kingston back to club duties following his trip to join the Ghanaian national squad. Provided the midfielder trains throughout this week without reaction to his thigh problem, he will be in contention to face Rangers on Saturday.

The manager was irked that Kingston, nursing a thigh injury, opted for long-haul flights to and from Africa for a friendly against Tunisia when he had no chance of playing rather than remaining in Edinburgh for treatment.

"Larry is training and we will speak about the problems we had," said Laszlo. "We do not have a bad relationship and my door is always open. It is important to think of the club but also of the player and of the team spirit.

"I will look to get him back playing. If he trains all week he can play against Rangers."