Jamie keen to jump up above Dons

Hearts defender is set on keeping his former side shackled before setting sights on city rivals Hibs

GRAEME CROSER

JAMIE McALLISTER today outlined Hearts’ determination to leapfrog European challengers Aberdeen - and then train their sights on city rivals Hibs.

Victory over the Dons at Tynecastle tomorrow would see the teams swap places with Hearts moving up into fourth place in the SPL table.

While third-placed Hibs have gathered the plaudits for some fine footballing displays this term, the Jambos quietly kept themselves in European contention with some tenacious performances.

Tuesday night’s dramatic victory over Livingston saw goals from Paul Hartley and Lee Miller overturn a one-goal deficit in the final five minutes.

The comeback proved that John Robertson’s side are prepared to fight till the death in search of results and McAllister reckons that spirit can keep them hot on the heels of Hibs.

He said: "Tuesday was a massive win for us.

"It looked like we might lose the game but we dug deep and the win put us eight points behind Hibs and just a point behind Aberdeen.

"Aberdeen are the team in front of us and the team we play next so they are our priority.

"Beat them tomorrow and we go above them which would be nice but longer-term we’re looking to catch Hibs.

"Europe is our ultimate goal and we’ll need to finish third to guarantee that.

"I suppose it adds a wee bit of spice that Hibs are our city rivals. We’ve still to play them twice so it could become very interesting but we’ll deal with the task in hand first.

"We’re taking it one game at a time and I always enjoy playing against Aberdeen as a former club of mine. I’ve a lot of friends there, the likes of Ryan Esson, Kevin McNaughton and Darren Mackie, so it will be nice to go in against them especially with quite a lot at stake."

The Gorgie side have made a habit of snatching late goals in recent games, although McAllister acknowledges they seem to respond better to going behind.

He believes that if they can prevent the opposition from getting their noses in front they could go on a winning run.

And so the 26-year-old defender will be looking to stop his former Dons team-mates from grabbing the first goal tomorrow.

He said: "We’ve not lost too many games lately but we have been drawing too often. We’ve not lost since Celtic beat us on Boxing Day but we’ve not picked up enough victories.

"If we can convert a few of those draws into victories it will put us in with a real shout of finishing third.

"When we go a goal down we seem to respond by getting one ourselves so that’s a pretty good trait to have.

"But of course it would be better if we didn’t concede in the first place.

"We have to address that and if we do it will put is in a better position to win games.

"At least we’re showing a willingness to fight back and a wee bit of a knack of scoring late on.

"I think we’ve lost the first goal in the last five or six games but we’ve managed to come back."

Although Hearts have failed to find top gear in recent weeks, McAllister believes the ingredients are there to turn the season into one of the finest in the club’s history. Victory tomorrow would enhance the Tynecastle men’s European hopes and then the chance to make it to a cup final falls just three days later in the CIS semi against Motherwell.

With the Scottish Cup still on the agenda and this year’s European adventure which pitted the club against the likes of Feyenoord, Basel and Schalke still fresh in the memory, McAllister believes that come the summer the Jambos could be left reflecting on a thoroughly memorable campaign.

He continued: "People have said we’ve had a bad season but when you look at it, this could in fact turn out to be a great season. We’re still in both cups, with a CIS Cup semi-final to play against Motherwell on Tuesday.

"We’re also still very much in with a shout of finishing third and getting into Europe.

"And people shouldn’t forget the European run we had earlier in the season.

"We had six games against quality opposition and I think acquitted ourselves pretty well.

"The potential is there to make this a very successful season for the club and that’s what we’re trying to do."

McAllister tasted CIS Cup glory with Livingston last term and scored the clinching goal in March’s 2-0 victory over Hibs in the final.

With Livingston mired in administration and the future of the club uncertain, the full-back opted to accept Craig Levein’s offer to join Hearts under freedom of contract last summer.

He felt a degree of loyalty to Livingston at the time, delaying his decision to move until the last minute but concedes that with hindsight he made the correct decision.

The Lions are now battling relegation and are under new management in the shape of Richard Gough but although McAllister is glad to be chasing silverware with Hearts he admits he spares the occasional thought for his former club.

He added: "Tuesday was my first time back at Livingston and it was nice because I had a great year there.

"I feel sorry for Livingston given the position they’ve found themselves in. They fought very hard against us but the luck just wasn’t there for them.

"They’re bottom of the league but I think they have enough quality players to stay up. I’ve also still got a lot of friends at the club and, had things worked out differently I might still have been there.

"The problem concerned the timing of the takeover of the club but I feel I did the right thing in joining Hearts.

"We’re having a good season and fingers crossed we can keep improving and make it a successful one as well."

Taken from the Scotsman