Great incentive for Hearts - but job is not done yet, says McCann

By Dave Smith 02-08-06

Hearts have got one foot in the final qualifying round - and a glamour showdown with AEK Athens - but despite taking a three-goal lead to Bosnia, where they face Siroki Brijeg, fit-again Neil McCann has warned his teammates to guard against complacency.

McCann, who has recovered from a cruciate ligament injury in time for the start of the current campaign, said: "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."

The Scotland international added: "It was nice to see the draw and the possibility of who we might face in the third 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.

"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 have watched a couple of videos of them and they look quite useful. So it is important we close the game out and try and score a goal. If we score early on, then that should make it more comfortable for us."

He continued: "The first leg result has made the journey over to Bosnia for the second leg more comfortable for us. It's never over until it's over but it would have been a lot more difficult looking at the draw for the third qualifying round if we were sitting at 0-0 or maybe even 1-0 up.

"But 3-0 puts us more into a comfortable position and that's nice. We have Premiership clubs in the draw and all the rest of them so it's all mouth-watering stuff although I must stress that the tie is not over yet. We've got to go to Siroki and shut the tie off but it is a good incentive for us when we see who we have got in the next round."

Coach Valdas Ivanauskas was in full agreement with McCann and said: "We have a big chance to go through to the next round and we are not thinking about losing.

"We had a lot of chances in the first half but we didn't score and we had to keep our concentration and discipline but the second half was okay and I'm happy. It's a good result but we know how strong Siroki will be in Bosnia, they are the home team and they have very good players.

"Every team in every game has a chance. Don't forget last season when Artmedia Bratislava scored five goals against Celtic and then lost four in the second game. So we need to be careful."