Levein wants more of same from Pereira and Hamill

ALAN PATTULLO

HEARTS manager Craig Levein yesterday reflected on the two men who did as much as anyone to secure a hard-fought derby victory for his side on Sunday.

Ramon Pereira and Joe Hamill stepped into the considerable breach caused by Mark De Vries’ continued absence from the Gorgie team and left Hibs with reason to remember their qualities ahead of the next time they clash on New Year’s day. Hamill set up the first goal and scored the second in the 2-1 victory, while the rarely-seen Pereira sprang from the substitutes’ bench to set up the winger’s decisive strike.

Levein made great play of the fact he is hoping to benefit from the nature of surprise where Pereira is concerned in future matches. The Spaniard has appeared only six times for Hearts this season due to ankle ailments and is still an unknown quantity for the majority of Premierleague teams, despite his time at Raith Rovers.

Certainly Hibs were startled by his introduction as substitute on Sunday. Not only had Levein expressed an opinion that he would not even make the bench, Pereira then almost immediately proceeded to create a goal.

"It was the same thing with Jean-Louis Valois when he arrived," said Levein yesterday. "I think he and Ramon are similar in that people will find it difficult to play against him. When new players arrive it always takes opponents a while to suss them out. Once you play against somebody two or three times you have an idea what to expect. I find that, especially with gifted players, you always get this initial benefit of surprise. And certainly we have had that with Ramon."

The battle is to get the player fit, something which Levein explained was hard in the current climate of weekend matches followed directly by midweek games. Although having no European commitments this week, Hearts are back on SPL duty tomorrow against Dundee United and then face Dundee on Saturday.

"What we need to do is get him fit and we have loads of games coming up," he said. "The idea would certainly be to have him on the bench, but use him again on Wednesday, and probably the same again on Saturday. Unfortunately with Hearts playing so many matches it is difficult to get him properly fit. In an ideal world I would say: ‘Okay, we have three weeks now to get him fit and not play him,’ but we don’t have the luxury of doing that."

The chief reason for this is the continued absence of De Vries. The Dutchman is expected to be released from hospital today as he continues to fight the effects of a septic toe and his chances of making next week’s UEFA Cup clash with Schalke must be considered slim.

It is timely, then, that Hamill has emerged as a player for the big occasion, dousing the fears of those who felt he might be hampered by what seemed a chronic case of shyness.

"He is a very introverted boy," said Levein. "He is not gregarious in any way. His confidence has needed building up and that is what we have been doing. We have been trying to get him into a regular way of playing and being involved with the first team so he can be comfortable in the surroundings.

"He is a winger so he is going to be erratic at times, but he scored a goal and set up a goal on Sunday and that is what wingers are for. One thing about our fans is that I think they are very good with the younger players, especially in the forward positions. I think they realise he is just a young boy and every now and then he is showing them flashes that he’s going to be a real asset."

Taken from the Scotsman