Craig Halkett addresses Hearts injury prone claims as fit again defender gets the blinkers on for pre season focus

Defiant Craig Halkett insists he pays no attention to claims he's injury prove after a hefty chuck of time on the sidelines.

The Hearts centre back is embarking on his first pre-season in two years as the Jambos are put through their paces by Steven Naismith and his staff in the Tenerife sun. Halkett has made just 14 Premiership appearances in 24 months, while an attempted Scottish Cup comeback against Airdrie in February had to be aborted during the first half and the 29-year-old has since gone under the knife again for a tidy up operation on his knee.

Now Halkett says he is fighting fit and ready to stake his place for a spot in Naismith's starting XI. he admits family and pals make him aware of the injury probe tag that's been attached to him over the last couple of seasons, but he simply blocks it out to focus on getting fit and stringing a run of games together in the heart of the Jambos defence

"It doesn't really bother me," he told the Edinburgh Evening News. "I don't go looking for it Your mates see it and your family see it and they obviously bring it up. You've really got to just have the blinkers on. You can't let anything like that affect you. You are a footballer, you want to come in, train every day and play games. You don't mean to get injured.

“In my case, a lot of it is freak tackles. It's not muscle injuries or something you can blame on fitness or training or not doing the right things. I've obviously had one of the worst injuries you can get in football. It's just about getting your head down, working as hard as you can, and doing everything you can on and off the park to stay as fit as possible.”