New boy Deividas jets into Capital

PAUL KIDDIE

MIDFIELDER Deividas Cesnauskis finally arrived at Hearts today.

The Lithuanian playmaker jetted into the Capital with new club owner Vladimir Romanov having been on international duty for a friendly in Georgia on Wednesday night.

The 23-year-old former Lokomotiv Moscow playmaker has joined FBK Kaunas team-mates Salius Mikoliunas and Marius Kizys in penning deals until the summer.

Similar to Mikoliunas in that he can operate on both flanks, the pacey Cesnauskis is vastly more experienced having played in the Champions League with Lokomotiv and he comes to Tynecastle with a reputation as one of Eastern Europe’s top midfielders.

Like the deals which also saw his fellow-countrymen sign for the Gorgie outfit, the move has been bankrolled by Romanov.

The Baltic banker will be introduced to fans before kick-off against Kilmarnock tomorrow, with the match being his first since his buy-out of Chris Robinson.

Boss John Robertson, meanwhile, has praised the club’s fans for their "phenomenal" backing - and urged them to keep up the good work as the side heads into another critical phase of their season.

"The fans have been phenomenal over the past few weeks when it could have been easy for them to turn on the team," he said.

"They really have been magnificent, especially in the wake of the Paul Hartley situation. They really got behind Paul and the team in the last two matches and should be applauded for that.

"We need them to keep it going and actually pump things up now over the last two or three months of the season. The players were tired against Kilmarnock on Saturday but the fans managed to keep them going through the last half-hour and the guys appreciated their efforts.

"We have another massive period facing us with two games against Killie in the space of a few days and a league match against Motherwell."

Robertson is set to keep faith with teenager Lee Wallace tomorrow.

The 17-year-old was a surprise debutant in the Tennent’s Scottish Cup clash on Saturday and performed well. "Lee did himself no harm whatsoever with his display," said Robertson.

Taken from the Scotsman