Christophe Berra: Hearts lose captain for six months through injury
- Published
Christophe Berra was injured in Saturday's win over Celtic
Hearts and Scotland defender Christophe Berra has been ruled out for about six months with a torn hamstring, leaving club boss Craig Levein "gutted".
The 33-year-old Hearts captain picked up the injury in Saturday's 1-0 win over champions Celtic.
But Levein has backed veteran Aaron Hughes to step into the breach.
"The reassuring thing is that, this year, we have squad depth and Aaron Hughes showed his quality when called upon against Celtic," he said.
"So we have options going forward, although it's obviously a very big blow."
The injury also means that Berra will miss Scotland's home and away Nations League group games against Albania and Israel as well as friendlies with Belgium and Portugal.
Berra, who has 41 caps, was carried off during the first half of Saturday's win, which took Hearts to the top of the Scottish Premiership after two games.
A scan has since indicated that he is likely to be out of action until the new year and Levein told his club website: "I'm gutted for Christophe.
"He's really never been injured before and has played a number of years at the highest level, so it's really bad luck."
Berra is in his second spell with Hearts and has made 50 appearances since returning to Tynecastle after leaving Ipswich Town last summer.
Peter Haring has impressed in midfield since signing from Austrian club Ried this summer but can also operate in defence, while 38-year-old Northern Ireland international Hughes signed a new one-year contract.