Miko: Losing final would be a disaster

HEARTS star Saulius Mikoliunas admitted today that it would be "a disaster" if his side didn't go on to lift the Tennent's Scottish Cup this season.

The Lithuanian winger played the final 21 minutes of yesterday's eagerly-anticipated semi-final clash at Hampden, replacing the injured Jose Goncalves.
7 Wonders

And despite his short time on the pitch he made a big impact with several neat touches, one of which resulted in Ivan Sproule dragging him to the ground before foolishly stamping on his back.

The automatic red card dished out to the Northern Irishman by referee Stuart Dougal was the final nail in Hibs' coffin with the Jambos leading 2-0 at that stage.

The Tynecastle outfit went on to add another couple of goals to their tally and book a final meeting with Gretna on May 13 which they will go into as firm favourites.

And Mikoliunas admitted that defeat to the Second Division champions hardly bears thinking about. "It would be a disaster for everybody if we did lose that game," said the youngster.

"We must respect Gretna though and can't take it for granted that we will win that game. They have done very well to get this far. We will be the team expected to win, however, and we must deal with that and make sure we win the cup."

Meanwhile, Mikoliunas has insisted that Dougal was spot-on to send Sproule for an early bath. The Hibees were later reduced to nine men when Gary Smith followed Sproule down the tunnel after tugging Michel Pospisil to the ground inside the penalty area. And while Tynecastle fans' favourite 'Miko' didn't get a great view of that incident he insisted that the decision to send-off Sproule was spot in.

"It wasn't an accident I don't think and I'm sure if you asked him [Sproule] now he would admit it was a mistake and he shouldn't have done it," said Mikoliunas. "It was a foul and then he stepped on my back. I think it was frustration because the game was not going well. The decision to give him the red card was the correct one and he can have no complaints about it."

Taken from the Scotsman