Hearts must beware gifts for Greeks

IT MAY be the venue for the Champions League final, but the Olympic Stadium in Athens is where Hearts' immediate destiny lies as they launch a desperate effort to beat AEK to a ticket for the lucrative group stages. Rather than a hiding to nothing, Robbie Neilson anticipates a match that means everything, and he is not giving up anything without an almighty effort.

"I don't see why we can't turn the tie around," says the self-assured 26-year- old full-back. "We expected to have to go over there and score a goal, and now we're going to need two. It's going to be difficult, but we didn't play anywhere near the level we can in the home leg. Maybe the pressure is off a wee bit if people aren't expecting us to get anything."

Trailing 2-1 from their Champions League third qualifying round first leg played at Murrayfield, Hearts would seem to have as much chance of finishing off AEK on Wednesday night as Scottish football has of hearing no further pronouncements from Vladimir Romanov. Hearts have a tough task. Or a big ask, in the parlance that every two-bit television pundit plumps for these days.

If Hearts are to clutch an improbable victory from the jaws of failure, they will require the armour and aggression that forged their hallmark last term and enabled them to aspire to entry to the promised land. And they will need to recover attacking sharpness: a blunt edge will be no good.

"We can't let our heads go down at all," Neilson stresses. "It's European football, so if they get a goal, we're still going to have to get two goals to take it into extra-time. I think Hearts will go out there and try to play our own game. We have a lot of attacking options, and I think Valdas [Ivanauskas] will rely on that on Wednesday night.

"The team worked hard for a whole season. There was a lot of pressure on us towards the end of the last league campaign to get second spot to get us into the Champions League qualifiers, and we can't let it go easily. We've got to work hard and really try to get through, because there was a full season's worth of hard work to get here."

Well, it is suggested to Neilson, at least if Hearts miss out on the Champions League group stages, the consolation of UEFA Cup involvement will remove some of the pressure from failure. "I don't think it does," he responds quick as a flash. "The UEFA Cup's lost its shine over the past few years. I know it's still a big tournament, but the big teams don't want to play in it. They want to be in the Champions League. That is where the money is and all the big games are, so we've really got to focus ourselves on getting into that."

Neilson trumps any Tynecastle team-mate in that he has been with Hearts for a decade. He knows more than anyone at the club that chances like this do not come along too often, and those two late away goals at Murrayfield may have sealed his team's fate. He was impressed with AEK, but there remain crumbs of comfort - and the sense that all is not lost.

"It was a big step up in class for us and a real eye-opener for a lot of the boys," Neilson says of the first encounter. "Top European teams are not just good on the ball technically - they have strength as well. In the SPL, we are the team that is bigger than everyone else, and we try to intimidate sides and get in about them. Athens were bigger and stronger than us, so it just shows you."

At least with AEK now based in the Olympic Stadium, after their former home was demolished, the passionate Greek support will not feel that they are about to crush Hearts with fervour before the game has even begun.

"I spoke to Takis [Fyssas] and he said that their old stadium was unbelievably intimidating, but that the new one is totally different. The fans still make a lot of noise, but it's nowhere near the same level, so maybe that can help us a wee bit," Neilson reasons.

But Hearts' form on the pitch is what will matter, and the idea that they could be aided by the return to fitness of talisman Paul Hartley remains another long shot. "It's a big push for him to be ready for Athens, but it would be nice if he could be. Then again, it would be very disappointing for Hearts if Paul did make it and broke down again. I think we have to be very careful with him. I mean, I know that it's a very important game for the club, but you're looking to the rest of the season as well."

When Neilson looks to the unfolding campaign, with or without the Champions League, he remains full of optimism. He enjoyed his first get-together with the Scotland squad last week at St Andrews, where he made up a golfing foursome with Darren Fletcher, James McFadden and Lee McCulloch. "I had a bit of a nightmare," he reveals with a wince, hoping that Athens will not bring more.

"I've had a good start to the season with Hearts and with the international call-up. It is nice to be involved, and hopefully it bodes well for me."

But what awaits his team in Athens is all-important for now.

Taken from the Scotsman