Tosh aims to be a Heart-breaker

GRETNA midfielder Steve Tosh may be desperate to ruin Hearts' season this weekend but that doesn't prevent him from insisting the Tynecastle club deserve to be named team of the year for their achievements under Vladimir Romanov.

The Raydale veteran will run out at Hampden on Saturday hoping Rowan Alexander's minnows can put a damper on Hearts' Champions League celebrations by claiming a shock Scottish Cup win. However, the performances of Hearts, now coached by Valdas Ivanauskas, means that the Jambos have been billed as huge favourites to win the cup for the first time since 1998 against the Second Division champions and Tosh admits they deserve every bit of praise which has come their way. "I think Hearts are justifiably favourites," he said. "People talk about Gretna being one of the teams of the year, or Celtic, but for me Hearts are ahead of everyone else.

"To have split the Old Firm over 38 games is unbelievable, it is hard enough to do that over just eight games. It is testament to the dressing room that they have at the club, their strength in depth, that they clinched second spot with a game to spare. We know it is going to be really difficult for us on Saturday but we're hoping we might just catch them on the hop at Hampden and give them a fright."

Ambitious Gretna owner Brooks Mileson, pictured below, and manager Alexander have worked miracles at Raydale this season, assembling a squad of experienced pros that would certainly hold its own in the SPL and cup victories over Clyde, St Mirren and Dundee in this campaign have proved that they are more than a match for the First Division sides they will be facing up to in the new season.

However even Mileson - who managed to get his hands on the Scottish Cup trophy at Raydale yesterday - admits to being stunned by the progress his side have made this season and Tosh himself can't believe he is in with a chance of his first cup medal at the age of 33, adding: "I really can't believe that at this stage of my career I am going to be playing in a Scottish Cup final at Hampden! It is unbelievable. If we're being honest I don't think anyone at the club, even Brooks, had ambitions of playing in Europe or in the Scottish Cup final at this stage, it was strictly to build a platform for probably five years' time, to make our way up through the leagues.

"That's why boys like myself were brought in, to take us out of the lower leagues and get a wee bit of experience. The good thing is that we are exceeding any expectations and we're enjoying ourselves right now. Games like Saturday will stand the younger boys who've never played at that level, in good stead for the future because, hopefully, there will be more of these games for the club in years to come. It is only going to benefit the club in the long run no matter what happens."

And he's right. No matter the outcome of Saturday's final, the minnows know they will be making their maiden voyage into the UEFA Cup next season and Tosh believes the pressure is now all on Hearts. "We're going to Hampden to enjoy it, we want to make the most of it. The expectations are all on Hearts, they've really got to win it but at this stage of the competition we can't lose. The worst-case scenario is that we pick up a runners-up medal and that's still a great achievement."

Taken from the Scotsman