Kil bill part three for lee

SCOTTISH Cup encounters with Kilmarnock will always be viewed through starry eyes by young Lee Wallace, the teenager's footballing memory banks dominated thus far in his burgeoning career by his initial foray into the Tynecastle first team against the club from Ayrshire with well-documented Hearts connections.

Almost a year ago, in the fourth round of the cup, Wallace was catapulted at the impressionable age of 17 into top-level action for Hearts under John Robertson. Like tomorrow, the match was in Gorgie and the opposition Kilmarnock, and just to add extra nostalgia for later years the full-back produced a standout performance in a 2-2 draw before scoring the opening goal in a 3-1 replay victory at Rugby Park 11 days later.

In between times, Wallace remained in first-team action and continued something of a haunting of Jim Jefferies, for Hearts' only league fixture between the cup ties was against, you've guessed it, Kilmarnock, with Wallace helping to keep a clean sheet as a 3-0 scoreline was recorded at Tynecastle.

"It'll bring back a few memories tomorrow with my first three games being against Kilmarnock," said Wallace, oblivious to the fact that most footballers of his age group are of insufficient experience to be able to recall anything.

"It was a pity about the result in the end. I remember Steven Naismith equalising with about a minute to go, but I was still just delighted to have played my first game. Only our failure to get the win spoiled it.

"I was just really nervous with it being the first game I'd ever played in the first team.

"I was getting loads of advice with everyone talking to me and telling me what to look out for. I had been training with the first team for a few days before the game and everyone was telling me what to be ready for.

"That was the first time I'd ever stepped into something as big as that, but I think I was ready. I'd had everyone telling me what to expect so I was as well prepared as possible."

Without question, Wallace was ready when his moment arrived last year and has appeared equally well prepped in almost every outing for Hearts since.

He provided able cover for the dismissed Takis Fyssas, pictured below, when coming on as a substitute against Celtic on New Year's Day, but largely this season has forced Wallace to accept the piercing realities of playing SPL football as a teenager.

It is often seen that a player of youthful promise will emerge from reserve or youth ranks to high praise and adulation during his early forays with the first-team squad. Then, when that honeymoon period quietens, a lull in the player's form and sometimes confidence is almost expected by managers and coaches a few months later.

Wallace has a humble nature that should not be confused with a shyness damaging to his confidence, although his role for Hearts this season has been decisively bit-part at best.

His entrance against Celtic was his first since a 3-0 defeat of Dundee United on November 5 as the consequences of Fyssas' talent and composure on the left side of defence are borne in the main by the other two competitors for the left-back position, Wallace and Jamie McAllister.

"It was good getting a run in the first team but things have changed now. I have to get my head down and keep working hard," noted Wallace. "Since the start of this season I've been on the bench, which I'm still delighted about but having started so many games last season I've got a taste for it now.

"I just have to accept that, with the players we have at the club, I can't really argue with where I am just now. I still have two-and-a-half years left on my contract so there is plenty of time on my side."

And it's hardly a disgrace to have yourself second in line to an established Greek internationalist, whose pedigree across Europe is recognised by everyone. "Takis has won the European Championships and is a top player," said a mindful Wallace. "Jamie McAllister has been forced to sit out as well and everyone knows he is a good defender. He helped me a lot last season when I was playing my first games, as did Andy Webster, Elvis and Paul Hartley. But Takis is just out and out quality, and we have had to accept that he is the first choice left-back. We'll all keep battling each other.

"The thing I've picked up from Takis is his passion. He has a wee nasty streak in him and really wants to win, but he's such a nice man and from his first day here we have got on very well. I've been asking him what he's been through in his career and he was excellent with me.

"On the pitch, he has so many attributes that other people haven't. That's why he's in the team and he's a good guy to learn from."

So Wallace will be doing yet more observing from the Tynecastle dugout tomorrow along with the rest of the Hearts substitutes as Fyssas takes his place for one of the day's most attractive ties in the third round of the Scottish Cup. A chink of light may be on the horizon, though, for the young defender. Presently, Fyssas' appeal against a one-match suspension for his ordering off against Celtic is due to be heard by the SFA's disciplinary review panel early next week. Should it be upheld, the Greek will be available for next Saturday's SPL trip to Dunfermline, much to the relief of Hearts head coach Graham Rix.

Should the claim of wrongful dismissal be rejected, however, then a surprise opening will appear in a rigid Hearts defence which has been picking itself all season. Wallace is already ruminating over the possibilities.

"I'd be delighted to get a start, but it would be between me and Jamie if Takis is suspended. I just want to keep doing well in training and try to impress. I've been speaking already to people about maybe playing in Europe next season, flying to different places, perhaps in the Champions League. Travelling across Europe with Hearts would be something else, but I have to still be in the team at that stage."

Wallace would be no different from any other football-mad teenager with his head on the pillow, dreaming of playing on the celebrated European stage from his bedroom in Carrick Knowe. The difference is, he has the ability to help make it happen, either via Hearts' league placing or a run in the Scottish Cup starting tomorrow.

Taken from the Scotsman