The big defender has been out since May after suffering an Achilles injury but has reached a recovery milestone as rehab ramps up

Craig Halkett is back running again as the Hearts defender admitted he's "excited" for the next couple of months with his return to full fitness in sight.

The defender suffered a heartbreaking end to last season, rupturing his Achilles in a 1-1 draw at Motherwell and was forced to watch the Jambos' last two games of the season as they lost out on the title with just minutes left on the final day.

Many fans feel that the outcome could have been different had the defender been available. Instead of celebrating over the summer, Halkett went under the knife and has since been on the gruelling road to recovery.

That is going well though and the 31-year-old revealed that he's been able to stretch his legs on the grass with some running and that he's on course to hopefully return by the New Year.

“I'm feeling great," he told TNT Sports. “My rehab's going really well. I'm five months post-op this week and just started back running. The physios are happy, the surgeon's happy, and we've got an exciting couple of months ahead to get back to full fitness.”

Halkett was in the TV studio as Hearts kicked off their Conference League campaign with a 1-1 draw at home to Nordsjaelland.

And after going so close to the title last term before being brutally dumped out of the Champions League qualifiers by Sturm Graz, Halkett is targeting a return to Europe's top table.

“Last season in the league we did really well to get into the position we were in," he said. "We were only a couple of minutes away from winning the league. Obviously that was really tough to take but I think with the direction that the club's going in, I don't think getting into the Champions League for a team like Hearts should be a way in the future.

“It's something that we can hope to try and do in the next couple of seasons if we continue on the path that we're on at the moment. When you sign for Hearts, nights like Thursday and being at the top end of the table is where you want to be, so everyone at the club is pushing in the same direction. Things are good at the moment.”

Halkett is yet to directly work under new boss Wouter Vrancken, but he's seen how the Belgian works up close.

“He doesn't get too high and he doesn't get too low," the defender explained. "He would have been in telling the boys he was proud of them tonight, that it was a good performance.

"We’ve got a hectic schedule coming up so I don't think he'd have been too tough on the boys for losing the equaliser. He'll give encouragement. He'll know that we've got another massive game on Sunday and will just try and keep the confidence high.

“I think the boys put in a great effort for 85 or 86 minutes and unfortunately conceded that late goal, but like the manager said, it was a really good performance in and out of possession for a majority of the game.

"Towards the end the boys’ legs started to tire a wee bit. We tried to freshen it up and bring some subs on but we couldn't keep them out for the equaliser.

"The boys will still take confidence from Thursday. We'll be looking forward to going back into the league on Sunday and hopefully trying to take some points off Celtic.”