Craig out to avoid Celtic connection

HEARTS keeper Craig Gordon today insisted his side can't afford to underestimate their Champions League opponents or they risk suffering the same fate as Celtic did last season.

Hearts are favourites to progress against either Siroki Brijeg or Shaktyar Soligorsk but Gordon insists that, at this level, there are no easy ties and warned they will have to be on top of their game if they are to win through. Celtic were also overwhelming favourites to dispose of Artmedia Bratislava in the qualifying rounds last year but lost the away leg 5-0, paving their way out of the competition.

Gordon is determined not to let that happen to the Jambos when they play the first leg of their tie at Murrayfield next Wednesday and said: "We're very aware of what happened with Celtic and we know it is going to be a tough game no matter who we get. We've had reports back that they are both decent sides and they will be able to cause us problems so we need to make sure we do a professional job.

"The whole pre-season has been about preparing for this first qualifier and we will be doing all our homework and getting our preparation sorted over the next week and we will be ready for it."

Next week's Champions League qualifier will kick-off one of the biggest seasons in the young Tynecastle shot-stopper's career so far, with not only a place in the group stages of Europe's most lucrative competition to vie for, but also the prospect of lining up against World Cup winners and runners-up, France and Italy for Scotland.

Walter Smith's team were handed one of the toughest groups imaginable for their qualifying campaign for the 2008 European Championships, the French and Italians also joined by Ukraine, who reached the last 16 in Germany earlier this month, Lithuania, Georgia and the Faroe Islands.

It's the kind of glamour-packed season that dreams are made of, but while Gordon admits he is looking forward to featuring in some mouth-watering games later in the season, he insists that he is focusing solely on getting Hearts through this qualifying round before he can afford to look ahead.

He added: "First things first, we will just try to get through to the group stages and that is a long way away in itself, there are a possible four games before we can get through to that stage.

"With the national team it is a very exciting group but I'm not thinking about that right now, I will just take it as it comes and firstly concentrate on my form with Hearts and make sure I perform at a consistent level and maintain my Scotland place."

The Hearts keeper is hoping that the Jambos supporters can turn Murrayfield into a home from home tonight for the friendly against Spanish giants Osasuna and again for next week's Champions League qualifier.

He already has some fond memories of the national rugby stadium, having played there already in the group stages of the UEFA Cup with Hearts two seasons ago and he is hoping they can emulate the atmosphere of those occasions next week. However the squad from that campaign has changed dramatically, only five players remaining from the side which faced Ferencvaros in the final home match of the group stages of that 2004/2005 season and Gordon believes that introducing the new faces to the Murrayfield pitch could pay dividends.

He said: "It is a good idea to have tonight's game at Murrayfield because it will be great experience for the boys who didn't play in the UEFA Cup games there a couple of seasons ago. There are not that many of that team left actually, so even having a couple of training sessions here will help as well."

Hearts boss Valdas Ivanauskas has likened the stadium to Hampden - the scene of the Jambos' Scottish Cup win over Gretna in May - and Gordon is hoping they can enjoy similar success at Scotland's other national stadium.

The Tynecastle side took almost 40,000 fans to the 2-1 win over Brooks Mileson's side and Gordon believes that even more may turn out for their maiden voyage into the Champions League. He said: "It is a great venue and the more spectators we can get in here, the better it will be for us.

"We had a lot of fans here for the European games at Murrayfield the last time and if we can get even more than that this time that will certainly help us. There are 17,000 more seats at Murrayfield than there are at Hampden so it could be some atmosphere. We took just under 40,000 to the cup final in May so if we could get that here - and maybe even a few more because it is through in Edinburgh - for some of the really big games.

"Tonight will give the fans a feel for the place, hopefully they will come back next Wednesday night and maybe even more. Hopefully they can cheer us on to a good victory that can help us through the second leg."

Tonight's opposition finished fourth in La Liga last season and will provide the stiffest test of the Tynecastle side's pre-season and Gordon is hoping that playing a side of their calibre will ready them for the challenge of the Champions League: "Osasuna had a fantastic season. To finish as high up La Liga as they did is of great credit to them and they will be a very difficult opponent, it is a great test for us.

"It will be good to play another European team and to play that style of football. We've also played Romanians in the pre-season build-up so to get a good variety of the different styles of European football will be good for us.

"I don't know a great deal about Osasuna. Like a lot of fans, I see the Spanish football on TV most weeks but I'm not sure what kind of team they will put out. No matter what side they field though, I am sure they will be more than a match for us and we will have to work extremely hard to get a result against them."

Hearts are the only SPL club not to have signed a player during this close season but Ivanauskas and Vladimir Romanov have been working hard behind the scenes to rectify that, potential signings Greek defender Hristos Karipidis, Chilean striker Pinilla and five Lithuanians all involved with training this week.

Gordon has been impressed by the standards so far and is hoping at least a few of them will join the Tynecastle ranks on a permanent basis.

"A couple of lads have been over at the club in the last week and hopefully a few of them will join us in training over the next few days. I think we need to strengthen the squad really because we've obviously had a couple of guys leave so it is good to bring new faces in to replace them. This is going to be a big season for us, we'll need a big squad and the more quality we can add to that, the better it will be for us."

Taken from the Scotsman