Hearts have to boost squad for stiff tests ahead

HEARTS looked threadbare in places on Wednesday night when compared with the strongest line-ups they were able to field last season. By beating Siroki Brijeg 3-0, however, they have at least bought time in which to effect a patch-up job.

Next week's return leg of the Champions League second qualifying tie should now be a formality. The professionalism of the SPL runners-up, particularly in defence, will surely be enough to see them through against opponents who were too readily demoralised when they went a goal down at Murrayfield. Especially if Julien Brellier returns to anchor the midfield, Hearts should be able to close down the tie with exemplary efficiency.

After that, however, the real hard work will begin. When Paul Hartley and Jose Goncalves join the Frenchman in coming back from injury, Valdas Ivanauskas' team will be stronger again, but they will need to make a couple of recruits if they are to acquit themselves respectably - never mind actually win - against one of the big guns they are likely to meet in the third and final qualifying round.

Once fully match fit, Neil McCann may prove a more than adequate replacement down the left for Rudi Skacel, while in the back four Christophe Berra or Goncalves could forge a partnership with Steven Pressley such as the one which Andy Webster once had.

So returning to the sort of balanced line-up which worked so well last season looks to be readily achievable.

But this season is not meant to be about emulating the achievements of 2005-06, for all that the Tynecastle club's supporters would happily see their team retain the Scottish Cup. This season is meant to be about building on those achievements, about taking Vladimir Romanov's plans for the club to the next stage, rather than treading water.

With due respect to those young players such as Andrew Driver, Jamie Mole and John Neill who are expected to become regulars in the first-team squad over the coming months, there is a limit to how much they can do at present. Their principal task will be to raise themselves up to the standards of their senior team-mates, not to take the team as a whole to a higher level.

When Ivanauskas has all of his current squad available to him, Hearts should be strong enough to deal with most domestic opposition. But that state of perfect health rarely obtains for long, and once the injury list starts to lengthen, the lack of depth and experience could become glaringly obvious. Although Romanov, the club owner, has emphasised the need for a flourishing youth policy, it therefore appears likely that he will dip into his pocket over the coming weeks provided Hearts make it into the third round.

Having said that, it is also plain that Ivanauskas will need to get more out of his current players as well. The Bosnian winger Mirsad Beslija, for instance, is capable of far more than he has demonstrated since becoming the club's record signing at the start of the year, while Juho Makela, the striker from Finland, also has a lot to prove.

At this time of year, of course, no-one is at peak fitness, and the Hearts side which compete in the third round will be notably sharper than the one which laboured throughout the first half against Siroki. That they took such a firm hold on the tie in the second half was partly down to good fortune, but also a reward for the patience they displayed despite the crowd becoming increasingly agitated.

"You could tell the fans were anxious at the start," McCann said. "The result will have put them in a better frame of mind. We can now go over there and shut the tie out and look forward to the draw. The important thing is it's not done yet and we've got to go out there and shut the tie off.

"It would have been a lot more difficult if the score was 0-0 or 1-0. The 3-0 makes it a lot better because we're in a much more comfortable position."

Hearts owe much of that comfort to Ibrahim Tall, whose pressure contributed to the own goal which opened the scoring and who then scored the second himself before Roman Bednar wrapped matters up. Shambling and ungainly in the first half, the former Sochaux player was more assured in the second, and afterwards explained that playing in central midfield as a replacement for Brellier was a novel experience for him.

"I only found out during the day," he said. "The gaffer said to me that I'd be in central midfield beside Bruno Aguiar, and it is the first time I have played there.

"I have to be happy with the way it worked out, because it was difficult for me. It's important for me to say thank you to Bruno. He was really good with me during the game and made sure I was taking up the right positions by giving me a little bit of direction here and there. "

The midfield playmaker did what he could to help Hearts as a whole through the match, although was often left looking isolated. The stronger the team around him becomes, however, the more he will be able to raise his own game - if, that is, he keeps his place once Hartley is fit again. Hearts collectively will raise their game over the coming weeks. On the evidence of Wednesday, though, they still have some way to go to get close to the form which took the SPL by storm at the start of last season.

Taken from the Scotsman