Pressley says Hearts can end Scots' seven-year UEFA itch

ANGUS WRIGHT

STEVEN Pressley was cautiously optimistic yesterday about Hearts’ chances of becoming the first non-Old Firm Scottish team in seven years to survive beyond the first round of the UEFA Cup.

Aberdeen were the last club to achieve the feat, but the Tynecastle side’s 2-0 first-leg win over Zeljeznicar on Wednesday makes them odds-on favourites to progress to the second round.

Celtic and Rangers apart, Scottish clubs have hardly set the UEFA Cup on fire in recent seasons, but Hearts at least have some pedigree in the competition. They reached the quarter-finals under Alex MacDonald in 1989, when current head coach Craig Levein was shoring up the centre of the defence.

"I asked the question last week: ‘who was the last club outside of the Old Firm to progress past the first round proper?’," Pressley said. Aberdeen can lay claim to the honour, although their passage in the tournament was abruptly halted by Brondby in the second round in the 1996-97 season.

"For the sake of the game in this country it’s important Hearts progress," Pressley added. "It will be a huge achievement for the club but we know the importance of co-efficient points. You just hope the Old Firm will do us proud in the Champions League also, because it’s so important Scottish football gets it’s name back. I think we’re well on that road anyway."

Pressley anticipates a rough ride in the second leg in Bosnia on 15 October when the Zeljeznicar fans are expected to give their team some vociferous backing. "They brought just 125 fans to Tynecastle but they certainly made a lot of noise.

"You don’t know what a ground will be like until you actually get there, but I have no reason to doubt it will be a very hostile atmosphere over there. But you’re going to get that in European football and it’s all part of the learning process for us. We’ll have to deal with it and we will."

The only downside for Hearts is that Jean-Louis Valois and Steven Boyack were both injured in the first-leg win.

Valois picked up a thigh strain towards the end of the game, while Boyack damaged his groin and is rated very doubtful for tomorrow’s league match at Motherwell.

Taken from the Scotsman