Roddy can earn his move with another super show against Lions, say Niemi

HEARTS goalkeeper Antti Niemi today backed understudy Roddy McKenzie to put the shutters up against Livingston tomorrow, the Finn convinced his team-mate can use Scotland’s match of the day to again underline his quality and clinch his desired move out of Tynecastle.

The reserve stopper has yet to play in a losing side since taking over from Niemi for the Boxing Day clash against Dundee United at Tannadice, the former Rangers star having fractured his finger four days earlier against Motherwell.

The Finnish internationalist had hoped to recover in time to return for the Almondvale showdown where victory will see Craig Levein’s side close to within three points of their third-placed opponents, but he will again be watching from the sidelines with the injury still causing some discomfort.

He took part in training this week with his finger protected by a special brace but the improvement has not been sufficient to enable him to be considered for the trip to West Lothian.

His absence will mean a sixth successive game between the posts for McKenzie and Niemi is confident the 26-year-old will continue to prove a formidable last line of defence for the Gorgie outfit.

"A lot of people were doubting how well Roddy would do when he first came back into the team as he hadn’t played for a while in the first team," he said.

"But he has done great and his performances haven’t surprised me in the slightest.

"I have worked with him in training for the past two years and know just what a good keeper he is."

McKenzie is on the look-out for a new club after explaining to Levein that he is fed up playing second fiddle to the likes of Niemi and Gilles Rousset over the last few years.

He still has over a year left of his current contract to run but believes he must now seek regular first-team action for the sake of his career. It is a situation with which his team-mate is all too familiar having been left on the fringes of the Rangers top-team set-up during his spell at Ibrox after being unable to make the No. 1 spot his own.

"Roddy is on the look-out for another club at the moment and I can understand his frustrations," he said.

"I did the same when I was at Rangers at roughly the same age and I think it is a wise move on his part.

"It is great that he has been doing so well and he has done himself no harm at all with his displays since coming back into the side.

"He is a vastly under-rated goalkeeper and I wish him all the best with whatever he wants from his career. He should be playing first-team football either in Scotland or England and that’s why the ability he has shown over the last few weeks has to work to his advantage.

"Hopefully he can keep his form going tomorrow against Livingston in what is a very important game for us.

"It is a big test for us but we have to go there confident we can come away with a good result."

Having faced the Lions twice this season already and lost on both occasions, Niemi is well aware of the threat the home side will pose.

And he has pinpointed classy striker David Fernandez as one of the main threats to Hearts tomorrow, Niemi claiming the Spaniard is destined for bigger and better things.

"I have been lucky in my career in that I have played for my country as well as Rangers and Hearts," he said.

"When I see a player like him he reminds me of Celtic’s Henrik Larsson. When he gets a chance for Celtic or Sweden he always seems to have the time to look up and consider what he’s doing," he added.

"He doesn’t always try to blast the ball into the back of the net and Fernandez seems to have a similar eye for goal. I think he will go far in the game.

"However, Livingston have a number of quality players and that’s why it is such a tough game for us.

"But before I went out injured I noticed a big improvement against Kilmarnock and Motherwell and if we continue to play as we can then we have to be confident about our chances.

"We were poor in the first half against Aberdeen last week but very good after half-time. Tomorrow we will have to perform for the full 90 minutes if we hope to take something from the match."

The last time the teams met resulted in an embarrassing defeat for Hearts at Tynecastle.

It was the lowest point of the Jambos season but they have managed to turn their campaign around in impressive fashion, Saturday’s win over the Dons stretching to an unbeaten run to seven games, Levein having guided his side into fourth place after struggling in the bottom half of the table for the majority of the first half of the season.

"We will go into tomorrow’s game thinking we can win it, which was not necessarily the case the last time," he said. "Of course we can lose games but the way we went down that day at Tynecastle was unacceptable. Our character, though, is so much better now."

Midfielder Steve Fulton insists that 3-1 defeat was a turning point in Hearts’ season and he is looking forward to trying to make up for that setback.

"We were getting a lot of flak earlier in the season when things weren’t going our way," he said, "particularly as Hibs were doing well.

"But how quickly things have changed. We are not shouting our mouths off about it as the league is still very tight.

"If we win tomorrow we’ll move three points closer to Livingston and that is how we must look at the match.

"They deserved the win the last time as they were so much better than us but three points for Hearts is all that matters at Almondvale as far as we are concerned."

Taken from the Scotsman