Hearts were tonight dealt a hammer blow with the news that vice-captain Lee Wallace is set to miss the rest of the season with a torn cruciate ligament.

The highly-rated defender was crocked in Scotland's Euro 2012 qualifier against Liechtenstein at Hampden Park and scans have confirmed the club's worst fears.

Manager Jim Jefferies gave his reaction to Hearts News, just minutes after been told the devastating news from the hospital.

"Lee has done his cruciate ligament, the posterior, and we are looking at six months out of action," he said.

"It appears his season is all but over and that is a hammer blow, first and foremost for the lad as everything seemed to be falling into place for him. His form had taken him into the international team, he had taken over the captain's armband with Marius out and he had been doing really well.

"It's also a major blow for the club and the team and it goes without saying everyone at the football club wishes him well with his recovery."

Jim will now have to shuffle his back line around for the visit to Celtic on Saturday and he added: "These are the things that football can throw at you and we'll just have to deal with it. We have had to play guys out of position before and we'll just have to try to fill the void as best we can."

Lee will visit a specialist in London over the next few days to determine whether an operation is required and what the best course of action is.

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On Hearts.TV tomorrow, don't miss JJ's pre-match press conference IN FULL from Riccarton.