Andy Murray ‘a real inspiration’ for Hibernian’s Ryan Porteous in injury recovery

Ryan Porteous is hoping some rehab tips from Andy Murray and a summer on the training ground rather than a beach will have him back to his best.

The 20-year-old Hibernian centre-back is only now beginning light running after injuring a knee in January.

But mentor Murray, himself rehabilitating after a hip operation, has been a source of comfort.

“He’s been a real inspiration because he doesn’t give up, he’s really resilient,” Porteous told BBC Scotland.

“He asks every week how you’re feeling and it’s just great to have someone that high in Scottish sport looking out for you.

“He’s asked me about diet plans and whether I wanted him to send me regimes he might follow when he’s injured.”

Porteous shares some of Murray’s determination and that should help him reach his goal of being able to join his team-mates for pre-season training.

“I’ll be in all summer, running and getting fit and on the ball,” he said. “Right now, I’m just starting to run again and hopefully I can get a good month-and-a-half in before the boys come back and be on a par with them, if not a bit fitter.

“I never got a summer holiday last year because of the Toulon tournament and it doesn’t look like I’ll be getting one this year. More importantly, I’ve got to get back fit.

“I know how frustrating this part’s been, so if I get the final part right, hopefully it doesn’t happen again.”

Porteous admitted it had been “really hard” to cope with his “breakthrough season”, helping his side beat Celtic and “keeping a clean sheet against Rangers”, being brought to a halt.

Along with his injured team-mate Martin Boyle, he has yet to feature under Paul Heckingbottom but has been made to feel part of the head coach’s plans since the Englishman and Robbie Stockdale took charge.

“They’ve sat me and Martin down and told us exactly what they want from us when we come back,” he added. “We’re doing video analysis every day of the games we’ve played so that, when hopefully we come back, we can step back in seamlessly.”