Ivanauskas is eyeing AEK but warns of Siroki threat

VALDAS IVANAUSKAS has ordered his players to disregard AEK Athens and focus on killing off Siroki Brijeg in Bosnia this evening - but the Lithuanian already has one eye on the Greeks.

Hearts youth coach Stevie Frail was dispatched to Athens yesterday to take in AEK's friendly with Benfica last night as Ivanauskas seeks to ensure he has as much information as possible on his side's potential opponents in the next round of the Champions League qualifiers.

The Edinburgh club are overwhelming favourites to dispose of their Bosnian opponents this evening in the Pecara Stadium and progress to the final hurdle before the tournament's lucrative group stages.

AEK lie in wait and head coach Ivanauskas is determined to prepare thoroughly for the probability of Hearts meeting the Greeks next week but he is also adamant that his players give their full attention to tonight's task, which will take place in searing 35-degree heat.

"We will go out to win the match," said Ivanauskas when questioned on whether his side would opt to defend what they already have.

"It will be a difficult game and we have a good result from last Wednesday.

"But we must be careful. My information is that the Bosnians are extremely strong at home and they will try to press us for the first 30 or 40 minutes and force us to concede the first goal.

"They will want a high tempo and a quick goal, but we have enough experience to cope I believe.

"It will not be difficult for the players to focus because we haven't spoken about AEK Athens yet. They are not important right now. If we score the first goal tonight, it's over. That's what we must do."

Hearts have left Edgaras Jankauskas behind in Edinburgh to attend to his injured hamstring, and therefore Michal Pospisil is expected to continue in attack.

Davor Ljubic, the general manager of Siroki Brijeg, has warned of the hostility that awaits Hearts in the Pecara Stadium.

He said: "Our fans are the Skripare and are well known across the south east of Europe as being one of the best fans in the region. You saw that at Murrayfield when 40 or 50 of them turned up and made a massive noise throughout the game there.

"This time, though, we are expecting over 1500 of them for the Hearts game, so that means a lot more noise! We need them with the rest of the fans because with the Hearts fans at Murrayfield, it was more like being at the theatre.

"But with these guys the Hearts players can expect a lot of noise, not only during the game but before it and after it as well. They are polite, but noisy.

"For us this is a big event because we will get double the crowd we would normally have for league games. But as I said before the first leg, just getting to this stage has been too much for us.

"The result last week was not a good one and when you watched the game you could see that there was a gap in the quality of the teams.

"Even so, we would like to score against Hearts in Bosnia, that's our first aim, and then we would like to win the game.

"If somehow we could get 1-0 or 2-0 ahead then we would have an even better chance but we are not expecting this to happen. We don't have anything but hope, and we saw what Artmedia did to Celtic last year. But miracles don't happen twice."

Hearts defender Jamie McAllister, meanwhile, has completed his transfer to Bristol City on a two-year contract. The versatile full-back has had his contract at Tynecastle terminated.

Taken from the Scotsman