Neil Alexander, the Hearts goalkeeper, admits the fractured cheekbone that he sustained at Rangers in the opening weekend of the SPFL Championship season hurt in more ways than one.
The 36-year-old was left in agony from the facial knock following an accidental collision with team-mate Alim Ozturk during the second half of the 2-1 victory. But upon being told that his convalescence would last up to six weeks, Alexander's cheekbone was not the sole source of his pain. It immediately dawned on the Hearts fan that his hopes of playing against Hibs the following week had been shattered.
Alexander, who heads to Easter Road tomorrow with a Hearts side 14 points clear of their Edinburgh rivals, said: "Missing the derby probably hurt more than the actual injury. It was devastating, it really hurt me. It's one I've really wanted to play in, so I was absolutely devastated before with my injury and not managing to play.
"I realised I was out when I was lying in recovery at Ibrox with the doctors, things would go through my head. I just knew I'd be out. When the doctor said 'you've definitely done your cheekbone - you're going to be out for maybe four to six weeks', the first thing I thought was I was going to miss the derby. I knew we had big games coming up.
"I've been lucky in my career not to have too many serious injuries. That was probably one of the worst I've had. I've been staying away from Alim since it happened, to be honest. We have a bit of banter about that."
After growing up as a Hearts supporter - despite his father, Jim, following Hibs - Alexander has always been eager to sample the Edinburgh derby. He added: "My dad supports Hibs but all my friends at school were Hearts fans and it just happened from there. Myself and my dad used to go to the derbies a lot and sit together in the family stand.
"From a young age I've known a lot about the Edinburgh derby, and to be able to play in one is going to be really special. I really enjoyed them, the atmosphere and everything, and giving my dad a bit of stick when Hearts won - and they won more than they lost.
"It was great and I'm really looking forward to fulfilling a dream and being able to say I've played in one.
"I've played in an Old Firm derby, I've played in an East Anglian derby at Ipswich against Norwich, I've played in a few derbies. This is one I've not played in, so it will be a good one to tick off when I look back at the end of my career."
Hearts were plunged into a goalkeeping crisis ahead of August's derby, which they won 2-1, after Alexander's deputy, Scott Gallacher, sustained an ankle injury in training. Jack Hamilton was recalled from his loan at Stenhousemuir and was handed a first-team debut but Alexander admits that watching from the sidelines was torture.
He said: "It was nerve-wracking. Being able to watch but not being able to influence the game in any way or do anything about the situations that occurred was really tough. But Jack came in and did fantastically well, and the boys managed to get a great result."
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