Marc Leonard has suffered a major injury blow.
The midfielder ruptured his Achilles tendon during Heart of Midlothian’s draw against Motherwell on Saturday.
He has undergone surgery to repair the damage and now faces several months on the sidelines.
Leonard was loaned to Heats in January, in search of regular football.
He has been a success at Tynecastle. An ever present, he provided added impetus to Heart’s Scottish Premiership title push.
But sadly, with just two matches of the season left and Hearts within touching distance of glory, Leonard is coming to terms with this devastating setback.
Hearts teammate Craig Halkett suffered the same injury in the match. Leonard and defender Halkett flew to London on Sunday for their operations.
Leonard was helped off at Fir Park in the 1-1 draw after falling awkwardly just before half-time.
Hearts head coach Derek McInnes revealed: “Both lads flew to London on Sunday afternoon and both got operated on yesterday morning.
“It was the same surgeon, both within an hour of so of each other. It was a ruptured Achilles for both, so it’s significant injuries. They’ll be out for seven to nine months.
“Marc will travel back to Birmingham today. He’ll be in with the club doctor there.”
Leonard, 24, has two years left on his Blues contract. He made just five Championships starts this season – 10 substitute appearances – as manager Chris Davies preferred Paik Seung-ho, Tomoki Iwata and Tommy Doyle ahead of him, and then added Jhon Solis on loan during the winter window.
There has been talk that Hearts were planning to open discussions with Blues about the permanent transfer of Leonard at the season’s completion.
Leonard spent his formative years in Hearts’ Academy.
