Hearts resolve not to make the same mistake as Celtic

HEARTS kick off their competitive season tonight with a match which amounts to taking a leap in the dark without a safety net. If they defeat their little-known opponents, Siroki Brijeg, they will be guaranteed European football of one shape or another into the autumn: if they lose, they plummet straight out of continental competition almost before their much-anticipated adventure has begun.

In a sense, then, being in the second qualifying round of the Champions League is like glimpsing a Promised Land which lies tantalisingly out of reach. Progress beyond it, and you are in the third and final round, victory in which is rewarded with a place in the group stages of the premier European competition, defeat with a berth in the first round of the UEFA Cup. Lose in it, and your prize is a big fat zero.

Celtic found that out to their cost last year, when they were beaten at this stage by Artmedia Bratislava. However, Valdas Ivanauskas, the Hearts coach, will not make a special point of using the league champions as a dire warning of what might happen, believing that his players are already well aware of how much is at stake in the games at Murrayfield this evening and in Bosnia next Wednesday. "It's a very, very good example, Celtic," Ivanauskas said yesterday before taking his squad's training session at the national rugby stadium. "They were big favourites for the game. But tomorrow's game is another situation for us. It's the first time for Hearts in the Champions League, [and for] Celtic it was just normal - every year they play in the Champions League. Their players were not ready for the game.

"Every player watched both last season's games, and I did too. I don't say more tomorrow. I don't like to put pressure on the players."

While he stopped short of suggesting that Gordon Strachan's side were too blasé in their approach to a match against unheralded opposition, Ivanauskas did make it clear he saw no room for complacency. Hearts are the favourites against a team who have surpassed themselves to get this far, but the Lithuanian has no intention of writing off the visitors.

"We have a chance," he conceded. "We have respect for this team, but I know which team I have. We have a good team, a quality team.

"It's very important to keep zero. We know it's two games, home and away. But we try to give all our best tomorrow, and we need to be ready for the Bosnians. They have a lot of Brazilian players and also a lot of Bosnian internationals. Like every ex-Yugoslavia team, whether from Croatia or Serbia or Bosnia, they are a very technical team, but they also play very emotional football."

Hearts will of course play to win, but the impassive Ivanauskas will not allow them to indulge too much in the sort of emotional football he mentioned. If the opportunity arises to kill off the tie by the halfway stage they will not spurn it, but at first at least they will play with a measure of caution. A 2-0 victory, which is what they managed the last time they faced Bosnian opponents in Europe, would be regarded as an adequate platform. That was in the UEFA Cup against Zeljeznicar three years ago, and the result set Hearts up for a comfortable scoreless draw in the second leg in Sarajevo.

If something similar happens this time, they can then look forward to a possible third-round match against one of the giants of the game. Those members of the squad who have played on such stages, however, are determined to prevent their colleagues from dreaming of the big time instead of dealing with the more mundane reality which awaits them this evening.

"I have fantastic memories of the Champions League," said Takis Fyssas, who played in the competition with Panathinaikos and Benfica. "I played so many games in all the big stadiums of Europe. I played in the Bernabeu and in the Nou Camp, for example, and they were very exciting moments because as a child I thought about this - but about being a spectator only, not playing in those stadiums.

"But we will take it step by step. Our target is to be in the next round. I don't want to say big things right now."

The experience of men such as Fyssas will be useful, but the fact remains that tonight Hearts will be without four important players from last season. Rudi Skacel and Andy Webster are still attempting to extricate themselves from Tynecastle, while Paul Hartley and Jose Goncalves are still out injured.

In the absence of Webster and Goncalves, Christophe Berra is expected to partner Steven Pressley in the centre of defence. Berra and reserve striker Jamie Mole have agreed new five-year contracts with Hearts and Ivanauskas believes the Scotland Under-21 defender can fill the gap left by Webster.

"Christophe did well last season," the coach said. "We had many players in his position so he did not play regularly but he has the chance this year.

"He is good enough to replace Andy now. He played in some hard games and pressure games last season and he played well in pre-season. So he is ready for the big games and he has a big future if he works hard. Champions League games are for experienced players and we have players with some European experience and young boys. But for the young boys it's a big chance."

In the midfield, the return of Neil McCann should compensate in part for the loss of Skacel, and the availability of Julien Brellier, who had been a doubt with a thigh strain, will be a reassuring sight to the home supporters. McCann is expected to start on the left, with Andrew Driver as back-up, while Brellier will play behind Bruno Aguiar in a four-man midfield.

It would be a serious surprise if Hearts were anything less than solid at the back and in midfield, but there is less certainty about how their strikers will perform. Ivanauskas and his predecessors relied a lot on Skacel and Hartley for goals last season - each player scored 17 times - partly because injuries to Edgaras Jankauskas and Roman Bednar meant that pair were never quite able to establish a proper working partnership. The two will be together again tonight, though, knowing there has never been a better time to prove they work well together.

Taken from the Scotsman