LEE WALLACE is determined to come home from Poland as a European Championship winner because it means he can have the last laugh on team-mate Julien Brellier.

The young Hearts star came in for some good-natured banter from Brellier when Scotland's Under-19s were drawn against France in a qualifier for the group stages of the competition.

The Scots needed to win to make it through to the groups but Brellier was so confident of a France win that he boasted his home nation would easily beat Tommy Wilson's men 5-0.

However, Wallace and co silenced the Frenchman by securing a 1-1 draw to progress to the final stages.

The Scots haven't made it to this stage of the tournament for 20 years and kick off their campaign when they face Portugal tonight before meeting Turkey and Spain later this week.

Wallace can't wait to test himself against some of the best young stars in the world and, in doing so, rub salt into Brellier's wounds.

He laughed: "I'd been taking a bit of stick from Julien because a few weeks ago when we played France he was saying that they would beat us 5-0 but we ended up beating them 1-1 to qualify for this stage of the tournament. I played the whole game and it was great to be involved. We just have to hope we get some good results over here now as well and see what happens from there."

Wallace is hoping that he will also be able to make his mark on the first team at Tynecastle this season, having been on the fringes for much of the last campaign.

He is delighted that the head coach's situation has been sorted out with the permanent appointment of Valdas Ivanauskas and says the Lithuanian is the right man to take the club forward.

While the trip to Poland gives him a welcome break from the build-up to the domestic season in Scotland, the youngster insists his priorities lie at Tynecastle, adding: "All I want to do is work hard and impress Valdas, John and, of course, Mr Romanov to a certain extent.

"I'm just focusing on Hearts and what I can do with the club this season. Valdas has been involved with the squad at Tynecastle for a while now and

we're all really pleased that he got the job on a full-time basis."

Taken from the Scotsman