Maybury set for shock striker role

Paul Kiddie

DEFENDER Alan Maybury could be set for a shock striking role when Hearts take on Braga in the UEFA Cup tonight.

Boss Craig Levein is considering deploying the Republic of Ireland internationalist up front at Murrayfield as he seeks to resolve the selection crisis which threatens to undermine his chances of reaching the lucrative group stages of the tournament.

Levein had planned to partner Graham Weir and Mark de Vries in attack this evening but his preparations were thrown into turmoil when Weir was sent home yesterday morning having been diagnosed as suffering from the mumps.

With his options already limited with Ramon Pereira ruled out by an ankle injury, Weir’s unavailability was the last thing the Jambos boss needed.

Ordinarily he may have turned to Kevin McKenna as an auxiliary striker or even Stephen Simmons but both men are also sidelined, leaving Levein little option other than to look elsewhere in the team.

Dennis Wyness is the only fit forward at Levein’s disposal and with De Vries unlikely to last the 90 minutes having just made his comeback from a hamstring problem in the weekend draw with Rangers, it had been originally planned to replace the Dutchman with Wyness at some stage in the second half.

Levein has labelled the striking dilemma as his worst selection crisis since coming to the club, the extent of the problem underlined by his use of full-back Maybury as a striker in his squad’s final training session yesterday.

"Graham Weir will be confined to barracks after being sent home with the mumps yesterday," said Levein.

"That gives me a problem for the match tonight and I’ve yet to decide whether to change the shape of the team of bring someone else in.

"It might involve a change of system or it might involve playing someone up front who is a natural striker.

"We have Dennis and that would be the natural thing to do but the problem I have is that the plan was to play Mark for an hour and Dennis would come on.

"But that’s not going to be possible and the dilemma with Mark is that I don’t know how long he is going to last.

"The temptation would be to try to get him through the 90 minutes but after his hamstring problem I don’t know."

He added: "I tried Alan Maybury up front in training yesterday and that is something I am considering but I have a lot of thinking to do.

"The problem wouldn’t be quite so bad had it been the away leg we were going into but we are at home and want to take an advantage back to Portugal for the second leg."

Levein could certainly accommodate Maybury in attack, with Jamie McAllister slotting in at left-back.

Levein is hoping the Jambos can come out on top in what will be a game of contrasting styles.

He said: "Braga are technically a good side. It’s a different game in Portugal and it is very technical compared to our style of football where we get the ball forward and try to put pressure on the opposition’s defence. It’s a contrast and that’s what so good about the European competitions."

Levein’s woes are in stark contrast to opposite number Jesualdo Ferreira, who has a fully fit squad to choose from.

Taken from the Scotsman