WE CAN COPY RANGERS AND LAND LAST-16 EURO JACKPOT

CRAIG GORDON last night insisted Hearts can repeat the feat of Rangers and sweep into the Champions League last 16.

His statement of intent might appear hugely over-confident as it comes from a member of a team that has never even competed in European football's most glamorous club event.

And when you consider that two qualifying rounds stand in their way - the battleground on which many of the big guns' dreams have died - then Gordon's beliefs may even appear to border on the ridiculous.

But such is the confidence oozing from the Tynecastle keeper and the rest of his team-mates here in Austria that only a fool would write them off.

Gordon said: "Rangers qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League last season so why can't Hearts?

"We finished above them in the SPL and I can't see any reason why we can't do what they did in Europe.

"Rangers proved by having grit and determination that you can be successful in the Champions League.

"They became the first Scottish team to qualify for the second stage of the Champions League and we want to become the second. Anything is possible and if Hearts get a few new players in and they settle quickly, we do have a real chance.

"We know there will be a couple of hard qualifying games to get there but we are determined to win. It will be difficult for us to win the SPL and qualify for the Champions League but it is not beyond the realms of possibility.

"We have a great deal of talent in this squad and hopefully we can improve on what we did last season.

"Qualifying for the Champions League group stage has to be our aim and let me assure you we are a very focused set of players.

"We showed that during the closing games of last season when we got together and made sure we finished off the job and qualified for the Champions League.

"Hearts will now get their reward with a crack at the big time and we are all so desperate not to throw it away.

"We knew as a group of players we had to stick together despite managers coming and going last season and when the going got tough we came up trumps."

Gordon reckons that playing at a sell-out Murrayfield in the home ties will hand the Jambos a massive advantage for the biggest games in the club's history. And he joked Hearts would take on anybody at their 67,000-capacity Euro base - including Real Madrid.

The 23-year-old said: "Who would I like to avoid? I wouldn't fancy playing Real Madrid too much.

"Then again even Real Madrid are beatable as I have seen them taking a few hidings in Spanish Cup competitions away from home, so if we can pack out Murrayfield, who knows?

"We'll have a huge support at Murrayfield and if we draw a big name then I am sure we'll pack the stadium to the rafters.

"We know with that kind of backing behind us we can achieve success.

"It would be a massive advantage to us to play at a sold-out Murrayfield and I think we can do it, I really do."

It was on the European stage against Bordeaux that Gordon shot to prominence three years ago with a fantastic display in the away leg that Hearts won 1-0. But in typical Scottish fashion they lost the return 2-0 at Tynecastle.

Gordon admits he thought he had reached the peak of his European career that night but he now knows the adventure of a lifetime kicks off on July 26.

The Scotland No.1 said: "When I played against Bordeaux in the UEFA Cup I thought that was probably as big as it would get for me with Hearts.

"Bordeaux were a massive team and had a lot of history behind them and it was a big name for us to be playing at that stage.

"But now we are looking to the Champions League and going that stage further - even though there are huge names potentially around the corner."

Taken from the Daily Record