Hibernian midfielder Scott Allan has opened up about the lengthy injury absence he has had. The 29-year-old has only played twice for the Easter Road side since August, as he recovers from a medical condition.
Now Allan has disclosed why he was out of action for so long, and the road to recovery, which has seen him return to the Hibernian squad over the past few weeks. The player has revealed that he was diagnosed with a heart problem.
“I was diagnosed with a condition called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. That’s where the walls of the heart chamber become slightly thicker. It makes it hard to pump blood in and out of the heart” he said (Official Hibernian website).
The midfielder disclosed that the condition gave him fatigue and prone to dizziness.
“Fatiguing really quickly”
“I was getting dizzy spells – it all kind of integrated with each other. When the professor told me what I had I knew that’s why I was getting those symptoms. One of the big ones was fatigue – I was fatiguing really quickly while I was playing at that moment” he disclosed.
Allan was concerned that he wouldn’t play football again due to the health issue. Thankfully that has not turned out to be the case. He made his comeback as a substitute in the Betfred Cup semi-final against St Johnstone.
“Really feared”
“I really feared I wouldn’t play again. The way I’d been feeling up until I had that test in terms of physically and what I could give on a football pitch at that current time was really worrying.”
The good news for Allan is that he is now on the road to recovery. Although he is not fully fit yet.
“I’m definitely not back at 100 per cent because I’ve not even been able to get a bounce game. But in terms of training fitness and general fitness outside of football it is the best I’m felt.
“I won’t be 100 per cent until I’ve had games under my belt. Hopefully that comes soon, but if not I’ll get a pre-season under my belt, and I’ll go from there again” he concluded.