GARRY COULD WIN HEARTS JUST LIKE ME

PAUL HARTLEY is sure former Hibs striker Garry O'Connor would win over the Hearts fans if he moved to Tynecastle - because the Scotland midfielder has already done it.

O'Connor moved from Easter Road to Lokomotiv Moscow for £1.6million in March but Tynecastle chief Vladimir Romanov revealed his interest in bringing the 23-year-old back to Scotland.

Hartley had to win over some sceptical Hearts fans when he joined from St Johnstone in 2003 after an 18-month stint on the other side of the capital.

O'Connor, who missed Scotland's 2-1 Euro 2008 qualifying win in Lithuania through illness, has a stronger bond with the Leith club than Hartley.

But he said: "You cannot say Garry 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 said 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."

Injuries to James McFadden and Nigel Quashie in the first half in Kaunas led to Hartley playing in three positions during the 90 minutes.

But the Hearts playmaker is just glad to be playing in a Scotland side which has taken maximum points from their first two matches.

Hartley said: "We were unfortunate with injuries but I have not got a problem with moving around.

"I don't care where the manager asks me to play, as long as I am playing.

"We played good football and created some good chances so we will go into the next game against France with a lot of confidence.

"We have to believe we can win the game or take something from it. And, as a group, we believe we can get results against anyone."

Taken from the Daily Record