McCann says Hearts must be wary of arrogance

The Edinburgh club have a three-goal lead from the first leg at Murrayfield to put themselves in pole position for a final qualifier, against AEK Athens, later this month, but McCann insists nothing can be taken for granted.

“It was nice to see the draw and the possibility of who we might face in the third round qualifier, but we are all professional enough to make sure we get the right result in this game and then we can look forward to the next match,” he said.

“In every game you have to guard against complacency but, obviously, when you are going abroad to different countries where they play different styles of football, then you have to be on your guard all the time. You cannot be blasé and think the job is already done.

“We are going to give Siroki every respect, because they are the champions of their country. And, if we go over there thinking the tie is already over, then we could shoot ourselves in the foot. We have watched videos of them and they look quite useful. So it is important we close the game out and try to score a goal. If we score early on, then that should make it more comfortable for us.”

The Hearts defence remains the most settled part of the team with the emergence of Christophe Berra, the young centre-back, in place of Andy Webster, who appears on his way to Wigan Athletic.

McCann takes comfort from the consistency of the Tynecastle rearguard. “We have immense confidence in the boys at the back,” he said. “They were fantastic last year and have started off the same way this season. We know they will stand strong at the back.”

Steven Pressley, the captain, accepts that trips to more glamorous destinations further on in the competition can only be achieved if they get past less famous clubs, such as the Bosnians. “Three years ago, we were preparing to play Zeljeznicar in the Uefa Cup so that shows you how far we’ve come since then,” he said. “It’s every player’s dream to play at the highest level and in European club football, the Champions League is the highest level.

“In order for us to get the opportunity to play in those stadiums [San Siro, Bernabéu] we have to show that we are capable of. I don’t fear for ourselves. We’ve got a great belief that we can finish the job over here.”

Taken from timesonline.co.uk