Hitman De Vries has plenty to Braga about

LISA GRAY

MARK DE VRIES played through the pain barrier to send Hearts through to the inaugural group stages of the UEFA Cup last night - and insisted the 2-2 draw in Braga was the highlight of his career so far.

The striker looked set to be ruled out of the second leg until the day before the tie was set to take place but he pleaded with head coach Craig Levein to allow him to start the game.

That meant taking a pain-killing injection just 15 minutes before kick-off at the Estadio Municipal de Braga but the gamble paid off when he grabbed the two goals which kept the Jambos in European competition.

The Tynecastle side headed into the game with a 3-1 advantage under their belts from the first leg in Edinburgh two weeks ago but an early goal from Joao Tomas almost inspired a Braga fightback.

By the time the Portuguese side found the back of the net again through Jaime, however, de Vries had claimed his double and Braga knew they had little chance of keeping their European dream alive.

De Vries has already had a number of highlights since joining Hearts two years ago - most notably netting four goals against city rivals Hibs in his first ever start for the Jambos.

But he believes playing the key role in last night’s European success tops the list.

De Vries said: "The foot is still quite numb at the moment because of the injection but it was definitely worth it.

"This is one of the best moments in my career and it’s nice for me but the most important thing is the team.

"We did it and I’m really happy about that."

De Vries insists the end result justified the discomfort he felt during the game and he has no qualms about taking another injection if called upon for Sunday’s Bank of Scotland Premier League game against Livingston at Tynecastle.

He added: "I knew that I wanted to play in the Braga game. I contacted the manager on Monday and told him that I felt like I could start the game but we left it until the last minute.

"There is pain but there is nothing broken so all you really have to put up with is the pain.

"I don’t know yet what is happening on Sunday but, if the gaffer asks me, I will take another injection."

Taken from the Scotsman