GORDON CALLS FOR SPIRIT OF BORDEAUX

Craig Gordon believes Hearts will have to recapture the 'spirit of Bordeaux' if they are to get past AEK Athens to reach the groups stages of the Champions League for the first time.

The Jambos will feature in the third qualifying round of competition after a 3-0 aggregate win over Siroki Brijeg with the first match at Murrayfield next Wednesday.

But Hearts had the Scotland goalkeeper to thank for their clean sheet at the Pecara Stadium in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Gordon had two fine saves from Mislav Karoglan in the first half and a tremendous close-range block from Celson just after the interval, among others, in an impressive display which had his head coach Valdas Ivanauskas heralding the 23-year-old as world class.

Asked how the Tynecastle men will fare against the Greeks, Gordon reflected on the Gorgie side's UEFA Cup tie against Bordeaux in 2003 in which they beat the French side 1-0 only to lose the second tie 2-0 in Edinburgh.

He said: "Athens are a top-class European side so it's going to be a difficult tie but we have to be confident that we can get a result.

"They will be the favourites but we've caused surprises before.

"The biggest shock I've been involved in was winning 1-0 in Bordeaux.

"That was a big surprise because we weren't expected to win.

"We also beat Braga two years ago to get to the group stages of the UEFA Cup, another big surprise.

"It will take all of that and more - the spirit of Bordeaux definitely - to get into the group stages of the Champions League.

"It will be a very hard tie but hopefully the experience of having caused shocks in the past will stand us in good stead.

"We will be working hard to create another surprise. We are one step closer to the Champions League - although we still have two games to go - but we will have to step up a level against Athens."

Gordon was typically modest about his own performance against Siroki Brijeg.

He added: "I made one save at the start of the second half which was just about being in the right place at the right time but that was one of their last real efforts.

"It was a very experienced and mature performance and not conceding a goal is something we can build on for next week."

Hearts captain Steven Pressley believes keeping possession will be the key against the Greek side..

The Scotland defender admitted the number of times Hearts lost the ball in Bosnia and Herzegovina had been a concern.

Pressley said: "You could say 'job done' but, in terms of the performance, I would not say it was our best one.

"When we go to Athens, we are going to have to keep possession far better than we did tonight.

"We gave the ball away needlessly at times and found ourselves on the back-foot.

"So that was a disappointing aspect but it was pleasing to get a clean-sheet again.

"We rode our luck on a couple of occasions and our performance has to improve."

He added: "It is a step up again for us next week, but we will thrive on that.

"This was a great experience for us and a fantastic achievement, but we are going to have to keep better possession of the ball against a very good Athens side.

"Technically, they are a very good team and are very strong. But we believe we can progress.

"Without a doubt, we will be the underdogs, but we do not fear them and we believe we can get a result."

But Pressley also believes Siroki deserve credit for their display in the 0-0 draw.

The Edinburgh club had run out comfortable winners at Murrayfield last week to ensure a relatively trouble-free evening in Bosnia.

But Pressley told BBC Scotland: "We have to give praise to the opposition.

"After the last game, we watched them on video and they looked an extremely capable side.

"It was disappointing for us when we heard comments saying they were not a particularly good side, because we felt 3-0 was an excellent result against a very capable side."

Taken from sportinglife.com