Cesnauskis to send Scots back in time

HEARTS winger Deividas Cesnauskis intends to return Scotland to the misery of the Berti Vogts era when they confront Lithuania in Kaunas tomorrow evening.

Cesnauskis remembers well the incessant national mourning that characterised the German's tenure as he failed to take Scotland to the 2004 European Championships, losing in Kaunas along the way, and then sabotaged the qualifying campaign for this summer's World Cup by taking only two points from an opening nine.

Under Walter Smith Scotland have undergone a regeneration during the last 18 months, but hysteria has taken over in Lithuania since their weekend draw with Italy in Naples. Cesnauskis and his Hearts colleague Saulius Mikoliunas both contributed heavily to that result and now expect to similarly damage the country in which they earn their crust.

Cesnauskis said: "I know that Scotland are looking to get some points in Kaunas but I suggest they remember how many points they gained in the 2004 European qualifiers. After Naples many people think that Scotland will be very easy for us. Scotland started very well against the Faroe Islands and for us pressure is very high. We think it will be very tough but we will do our best to get a victory."

There is a question mark over Cesnauskis' fitness for tomorrow's match, in which he would line-up against his club colleagues Steven Pressley, Craig Gordon, Paul Hartley and possibly Robbie Neilson. The winger, who has been absent from the Hearts team recently with a virus, has been complaining from illness since returning from Italy.

The Lithuanians endured a nightmare ten-hour flight back from Naples, five of which were spent at Frederic Chopin airport in Warsaw where they had to divert due to fog. Yet four hours after landing back in Vilnius at 11.30am on Sunday morning, head coach Algimantas Liubinskas ordered his players out to train.

But regardless of his personal fitness he knows Lithuania's strikers will have to be at their most lethal to score past the man in the Scotland goal. "It will be very difficult for us to score against Gordon, he is a top class goalkeeper," said Cesnauskis.

Mikoliunas, meanwhile, is expecting a typically robust encounter with Scotland. "The Scots love tough football, they are well prepared physically and their fighting spirit is great," he said. "It will be a very difficult match. I guess it's 50/50.

"We already have forgotten Naples, now we are all thinking about the match against Scotland. But it would be very nice to come back to the Tynecastle dressing room with victory in the pocket."

Taken from the Scotsman