Hartley still hopeful for O'Connor

PAUL Hartley believes his Scotland team-mate Garry O'Connor would be another former Hibernian player to be welcomed by Hearts supporters if he signed for the Tynecastle club.

O'Connor moved from Hibernian to Lokomotiv Moscow for £1.6million in March, but Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov recently revealed his interest in bringing the 23-year-old back to Scotland before the transfer window closed at the end of August.

Hartley joined Hearts from St Johnstone in 2003 after an 18-month stint at Easter Road. O'Connor, who missed Scotland's win over Lithuania in Kaunas through illness, has a far stronger bond with the Leith club than Hartley, but the Scotland midfielder is confident the former Hibs frontman would also become a favourite in a maroon jersey if he joined the Gorgie side.

Hartley said: "You cannot say he is coming to Hearts, but, if it happened and he does his best, then the fans will appreciate that because it happened to me.

"It was a surprising move, but it just shows you how ambitious Mr Romanov is in trying to bring in a player of Garry's quality. We have to add quality to the squad because we have signed only two players before the deadline.

"Mr Romanov has gone on record saying he might have another crack at getting Garry next year, which would be good because it would be nice to get a player of his ability into the squad."

Meanwhile, Hearts striker Edgaras Jankauskas could be ready to return for the UEFA Cup tie with Sparta Prague next week following a thing injury.

Heats head coach Valdas Ivanauskas said: "We think he has a small chance of playing in the first match with Sparta Prague."

Taken from the Scotsman