| Report Index--> 2006-07--> All for 20060826 | ||||
| <-Page | <-Team | Sat 26 Aug 2006 Hearts 4 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1 | Team-> | Page-> |
| <-Srce | <-Type | Herald ------ Report | Type-> | Srce-> |
| Valdas Ivanauskas | <-auth | Mark Wilson | auth-> | Steve Conroy |
| [G Bayne 31] | ||||
| 140 | of 199 | Mauricio Pinilla 20 ;Jamie Mole 43 ;Andrew Driver 81 ;Bruno Aguiar 91 | L SPL | H |
Hearts’ Scottish contingent aim to beat Lithuanian colleaguesMARK WILSON September 04 2006 Defeat in Lithuania on Wednesday is simply not an option for Scotland's Hearts contingent. Never mind the damage to the nation's prospects of reaching Euro 2008, returning to Tynecastle would be traumatic enough. The Hearts dressing-room gathers ever more Lithuanians, several of whom will become enemies in Kaunas, while Valdas Ivanauskas, Tynecastle head coach, sat scribbling notes on the 6-0 win over the Faroe Islands to feed to his home nation. Even future visits from Vladimir Romanov or the mysterious "Pyjama Man" would carry the risk of smug smiles of satisfaction should the Baltic nation prevail. "Lithuania are a good side and I know quite a few of them very well," said Craig Gordon, the Hearts and Scotland goalkeeper. "They'll be difficult to beat over there and we'll have to adopt a different approach. "I suppose there is something for Valdas to think about after we won 6-0 but I'm pretty sure the team will look different over there. I haven't really spoken to him about the game, but once we beat them I'm sure all the chat will start. "More and more Lithuanian players have come into the club while we've been away and, hopefully, we'll have the bragging rights when we come back." His thoughts were echoed by Paul Hartley, who admitted personal, as well as national, pride was at stake. "It's been building up for the past couple of weeks in our dressing-room, but I think a couple of the Hearts lads might have pulled out through injury," he said with a smile. "I don't think they fancied it." On a more serious note, Hartley predicts a potentially bruising encounter. "It could be a tough game as well on Wednesday, knowing some of their players who are at Tynecastle," he said. "I've heard the pitch is pretty horrendous and it should be a typical British-style game. They will make it hard for us and we have to keep our temperaments level." The match in Kaunas should also see Steven Pressley becoming Hearts' most-capped player of all time as his 30th appearance for Scotland would surpass the record of Bobby Walker, who won his caps between 1900 and 1913. "It's fantastic and I think it will mean a lot to him," said Hartley. "He loves playing for Scotland, as I do, and we both came to international football late in our careers. He's thrived on it and it was another polished performance from him against the Faroes."  Taken from the Herald |
||||
| <-Page | <-Team | Sat 26 Aug 2006 Hearts 4 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1 | Team-> | Page-> |
| 