Players deserve all the plaudits - Levein

PAUL KIDDIE

HEARTS boss Craig Levein today insisted his players cannot be praised highly enough for maintaining their league challenge against a backdrop of off-field controversy.

The Gorgie chief takes his team to Fir Park for tonight’s rearranged SPL clash with Motherwell knowing that victory will stretch the third-placed Jambos advantage over nearest rivals Dunfermline to 11 points.

Hearts are odds-on to book a return ticket to Europe for the second season running, an achievement all the more commendable given the dramas which have been unfolding away from the park.

The current campaign has seen Tynecastle become the scene of regular fans’ protests against chief executive Chris Robinson and his board over the proposed move to Murrayfield, the saga taking another twist yesterday with the unveiling of George Foulkes MP as the club’s new chairman following the resignation of Doug Smith.

Despite all the goings on, the team has continued to churn out results, Hearts heading to Lanarkshire this evening on the back of a ten-game unbeaten run in the SPL.

And Levein has been quick to express his delight with his squad.

"I could not be more pleased with the way the players have coped with these extremely difficult times at the club up until this point.

"I am not saying everything will be rosy from now on but, if anything does manage to take the heat out of the situation and give us the opportunity to have our supporters concentrating solely on football, then that has got to be beneficial to us.

"We went to Murrayfield last year as an experiment and that was it. We talked about the facilities being great at the time but haven’t spoken about it since.

"All we have spoken about since is concentrating on the football and, from our point of view, getting to the end of the season and try to finish as high up the league as we can.

"After that what happens, happens.

"In all seriousness, do you think the guys who are out of contract in the summer are worried about where they are playing next season."

He added: "The players deserve enormous praise for their single-mindedness.

"Playing football when things are difficult isn’t easy.

"I have been involved with teams and seen teams who look for excuses. Sometimes those excuses are valid.

"But to do what these players have done, when they could have had all the excuses in the world, is remarkable.

"I keep saying it but they deserve enormous credit, not just staying the same but improving this season. They deserve all the plaudits going and I just hope we can now go on and finish the season on a high."

Dwelling briefly on the appointment of Foulkes, Levein reckons it’s a move to try to appease the Gorgie faithful.

"I don’t expect anyone in the boardroom to pick my team and I can tell you nobody in the boardroom has asked me to pick their team," he said.

"This appears to be an attempt to broker some form of peace deal and we’ll see what happens."

Andy Webster could be asked to play against Motherwell with the aid of a pain-killing injection tonight.

The Scotland defender has been out of action with an ankle injury picked up against Rangers last month.

He is still feeling some slight discomfort but may take a jag before kick-off to see him through.

Webster did some training yesterday and has come into consideration with Kevin McKenna ruled out and Scott Severin feeling the effects of his exertions against Celtic, his first game back after three months out.

Mark de Vries, who netted Hearts’ second goal at Parkhead on Saturday, is poised to return to the attack at Fir Park, although midfielder Phil Stamp is again likely to miss out with the back injury which ruled him out of the trip to Glasgow at the weekend.

Taken from the Scotsman