I'LL RESCUE OUR DREAM FROM GREEK RUINS

PAUL HARTLEY last night insisted he'll be back to help Hearts salvage their Champions League dream in Athens.

The injured midfield star is determined to play in the return leg of the Tynecastle side's qualifier against AEK on August 23 after the agony of seeing his team-mates crash 2-1 at Murrayfield on Wednesday night.

The Jambos were on the verge of a priceless win which would have given them a fighting chance of reaching the group stage.

They were under the cosh for most of the game but looked to be heading for a win after Saulius Mikoliunas scored against the run of play after 62 minutes.

However, disaster struck when the Greeks netted a last-minute equaliser and scored again deep in injury time.

Hartley was a frustrated spectator in the stands due to a groin strain. Before kick-off, Julien Brellier and Deividas Cesnauskis were struck down by a flu bug that further weakened Hearts in the middle of the park.

The Scotland international, who bagged 18 goals for the Scottish Cup winners and SPL runners-up last season, knew he could have made a big difference in the Hearts engine room.

He wasn't the only one. So, too, did the 32,459 fans inside Murrayfield.

All through his career, it has been Hartley's dream to play in the Champions League.

It was the 30-year-old who scored the penalty against Aberdeen at Tynecastle last May that got Hearts into the qualifiers. But, cruelly, Hartley might have to settle for 90 minutes or less on the biggest stage in Europe for club football.

That's unless Valdas Ivanauskas' side can pull off what would rank as one of Scottish football's best-ever results on foreign soil.

Hartley desperately wants the chance to play his part in Hearts' mission impossible as they bid to beat Lorenzo Serra Ferrer's team in their own backyard.

He said: "I have targeted the return leg in Greece for my comeback game and that's what I have been pencilled in for.

"I will play in a bounce game arranged for next Tuesday and if that goes well I will hopefully be available for Athens.

"I am desperate to play in this match but I don't want to come back too early and aggravate my injury.

"It has just been frustrating sitting in the stands watching our first two SPL games at weekends and our Champions League qualifiers in midweek.

"It is disappointing to miss out on any game but to miss a game of the magnitude of a Champions League tie is especially tough.

"We were disappointed with the result on Wednesday night as the boys gave it their all and at 1-0 we created a couple of chances. There are signs of hope and 1-0 would have been a great result to take to Greece but it just wasn't to be." Hartley conceded that the controversial dismissal of Hearts midfielder Bruno Aguiar for dissent after 66 minutes turned the tide in the Greeks' favour.

But he admitted it was clear his team were up against a top-class European outfit, even before Hearts were reduced to 10 men.

Hartley said: "The turning point of the game was Bruno's sending-off.

"AEK are a quality team who created numerous opportunities but we dug in and if we had hung on for a 1-0 victory then we would have given ourselves a great chance in the away leg.

"AEK played very well but if it had been 11 players against 11 there is every chance we would have held on and won."

Hartley said he was hurting for Christophe Berra whose outstanding performance was overshadowed by AEK's winner deflecting off him on its way into the net.

Hartley said: "Their player just hit a shot and hoped for the best that it would be on target.

"Craig Gordon would probably have saved but it took a wicked deflection off Christophe and completely wrong-footed him. Unfortunately for Christophe and the team these things happen in football." However, defiant Hartley reckons Hearts can still pull the tie out of the fire.

He said: "We know we have to go there and work hard and we will need a bit of luck on the night.

"AEK will create chances over there but we still have a chance, of course we do, even though we are now massive underdogs.

"It is going to be hot and hostile in their stadium and we know that AEK are a good passing team who will make it difficult for us to get the ball from them.

"We have to go to Greece and give it our best shot, it's as simple as that."

No Scottish side has triumphed against AEK in European competition in 12 years.

Rangers, in a Champions League qualifier in 1994, and Hibs, in the UEFA Cup in 2001, have both I succumbed to the Greek side.

If Hearts were to overturn this deficit and secure a historic win in the Olympic Stadium to qualify for the Champions League group stage, who could argue with the right of the Hearts fans to acclaim Hartley and Co as gods?

Taken from the Daily Record