Niemi in frame to face Celtic

HEARTS goalkeeper Antti Niemi, who has been out of action since before Christmas, is poised to make his comeback from a hand injury tonight against Celtic.

While Roddy McKenzie was an able deputy, the Finn will reclaim his place at Parkhead provided he passes a fitness test before the team leave for Glasgow.

Already without the services of centre-back Kevin McKenna, on international duty with Canada, and the suspended right-back Alan Maybury, Hearts would be boosted by the return of Niemi. "I’ll make up my mind about Antti before the game," admitted head coach Craig Levein yesterday. "He’s done a little bit of work in training and will be here early in the morning to do some more.

"Roddy’s done remarkably well for us. But if Antti is fit and available, I’ll play him."

Apart from assessing the readiness of Niemi to return, Levein has to consider a replacement for Maybury, who was sent off in controversial circumstances against Livingston on Saturday.

The versatile Thomas Flogel could be switched to full-back, but the coach is reluctant to tamper with the midfield unit of Flogel, Tommi Gronlund and Steve Fulton.

As to the circumstances which led to Maybury’s dismissal at the weekend - TV evidence showed the player kicked the ball rather than his opponent - Levein was contemptuous of the system which threw out the club’s appeal at a meeting of the SFA disciplinary committee.

"We’re sick about what happened to Alan and feel it would have been better if our appeal had been considered by an independent panel rather than people who have something to protect.

"I’m sure they’ll have spoken to the referee, he’ll have said it should stand, and they’ve upheld that. I don’t see that as an impartial way of doing things. We should have people looking at these cases who can make a completely impartial decision based on what they see on TV.

" The procedures here are like something from the dark ages."

Martin O’Neill, the Celtic manager, expressed a hope that the confidence Levein has inevitably gained from a good sequence of results will transmit itself into more ambitious combat at Celtic Park. Hearts’ most recent visit was a marked flop. In only the third game of the league season, Levein’s men set out to achieve a draw and slumped to a 2-0 defeat.

"It is anyone’s prerogative to play the game in a manner they see fit; I don’t have a problem with that," said O’Neill. "But if some team like Livingston have come here and played three up front, given us all sorts of problems and been unlucky not to have got something from the game . . . that is the way they played it, and it nearly came off.

"Obviously Craig is now more into the side and into the job he has, and I think first of all they have the players to trouble us. I think they will have a different approach."

Taken from the Scotsman