Robertson's Lithunanian gamble pays off

HEARTS boss John Robertson today praised the scintillating performance of Deividas Cesnauskis in the victory over Kilmarnock in the Tennent’s Scottish Cup fourth-round replay and admitted: "The gamble paid off."

The 23-year-old Lithuanian was handed a baptism of fire in last night’s Rugby Park showdown and repaid his manager’s faith with a goal-scoring debut as the Jambos set up a quarter-final clash at home to Livingston with an impressive 3-1 triumph.

Having only arrived at the club on Friday, Cesnauskis has had barely time to get to know the names of his new team-mates, but such was his desire to play against Killie that Robertson decided to take a risk with the talented midfielder.

The Gorgie chief was left with a warm glow of satisfaction as the new arrival helped orchestrate a thoroughly convincing display by the visitors, Cesnauskis rounding-off an eye-catching 90 minutes with Hearts’ third goal.

"I suppose you could say it was a bit of a gamble considering the high-profile nature of the match," said the Hearts boss.

"You are never sure just how a young lad like him will cope with such a game but he did very well."

Cesnauskis and his compatriot Saulius Mikoliunas provided the spark which shot down the Ayrshire side in flames, Jim Jefferies’ outfit having no answer to the duo’s flair and imagination.

The pair, both signed until the summer courtesy of new owner Vladimir Romanov, combined well for the debutant’s 57th-minute strike. "Deividas is keeping Saul out of his national team at the moment so there was never any doubt over the quality which he possesses," said Robertson.

"We spoke to him before the cup tie and he was desperate to play. His fitness wasn’t going to be a problem as he played for Lithuania last week. He has seen the success which Saul has enjoyed here and clearly wants a taste of it. These are two good examples of the types of players we want to bring to the club.

"I thought we played very well last night, went about our job in the right manner and deserved the victory."

Praising the Hearts fans who made the journey to Rugby Park to roar the team into the quarter-finals, Robbo added: "They were fantastic again. I told the players they had a duty to go out there and entertain and they did that. The fans will have appreciated the fact we put on a performance which they wanted to see and that is important as well. They can see we are trying our best to change the style of the team and that we are trying to attack opponents as much as we can."

Taken from the Scotsman