Hearts want to do double

HEARTS are heading towards a record European attendance against AEK Athens next week after selling over 10,000 tickets in under 24 hours.

Briefs for the Champions League qualifier have been flying out of the Tynecastle ticket office faster than they did for the Scottish Cup final in May and club officials believe Hearts could surpass the current record of 37,000 who attended the European Cup match against Standard Liege in 1958.

Supporters are clamouring for tickets in the hope that Hearts will book their place in the group stages of the competition - and secure a possible £10 million windfall - in their first season in the competition.

Their second-round first-leg qualifier with Bosnian side Siroki Brijeg attracted almost 29,000 but next week's tie is expected to eclipse that.

A club spokesperson said: "We are delighted that so many people are going to see Champions League football in Edinburgh.

"Using Murrayfield is undoubtedly helping us satisfy the demand of our supporters and many people who will simply come along for the occasion.

"We offer a 24-hour a day ticket hotline and 24-hour a day internet booking service. For those fans who would rather buy their tickets in person, the ticket office hours have been extended and we will also be opening up the turnstiles at Tynecastle from 9.00am on Monday morning for cash only sales."

Meanwhile, Hearts coach John McGlynn today eyed an Old Firm double to put the Tynecastle side in the championship driving seat.

Hearts host Celtic on Sunday, followed by a trip to Ibrox just a fortnight later and McGlynn concedes that Hearts couldn't have asked for a tougher start to their SPL campaign.

August promises to be a huge month for Valdas Ivanauskas' squad, who also face the double-header with AEK Athens, however, McGlynn insisted the Hearts players will thrive on the big-match atmosphere.

McGlynn said: "It's a tough start for us but, if we can get the right results, it could be a good start for us. You've got to play the Old Firm some time and it's swings and roundabouts, it just means that we don't have to play them for a while after that.

"Playing so many big matches one after the other is just one of the pitfalls of success and we relish that. The Celtic game is one that we looked forward to. It's always important to win your home games and it can make a real difference.

"Away from home it is obviously more difficult so it is vital that we get the points in the bag at Tynecastle. We won at Dunfermline last week and it would be great to follow that up on Sunday against Celtic.

"We've got Celtic this weekend, the Champions League games and then Rangers in a couple of weeks' time. The league will not be won or lost on August 6 but, if we did manage to take all three points, it would be a real boost and, with us playing Rangers after that, it gives us a real chance."

Former Porto striker Edgaras Jankauskas is likely to miss out again this weekend as he is struggling to shake off the hip injury that ruled him out of the trip to Bosnia but Robbie Neilson, who was substituted in the second half against Siroki, is fit to play.

Striker Mauricio Pinilla, who joined Hearts on loan from Sporting Lisbon last week, is still short of match fitness and won't feature against Celtic. However, one man who could be thrown straight into the white-hot atmosphere at Tynecastle on Sunday is new boy Hristos Karipidis, who put pen to paper on a three-year, £200,000 deal yesterday.

Karipidis revealed that countryman Takis Fyssas sold him on a move to Hearts with glowing reports about club captain Steven Pressley. He said: "I spoke to Takis Fyssas about Steven Pressley. He told me that he is a real captain on and off the field and that he is always trying to sort out the players' problems and it will be an honour for me to play with him."

UEFA has delayed the announcement of squads for the Champions League qualifiers until Monday morning to allow all submitted lists to be properly processed.

The deadline for clubs to lodge their 25-man party with European football's governing body ahead of the third qualifying round was at midnight. However, with a total of 32 teams involved, it will take time to collate all the documentation.

Taken from the Scotsman