HEARTS ACE MIKO FLIES BACK WITH SCOTS FANS

HEARTS star Saulius Mikoliunas hitched a lift back from Lithuania on a flight with the Tartan Army.

The Jambos midfielder and team-mate Marius Zaliukas were offered seats on the official charter after Wednesday's Euro 2008 qualifier in Kaunas.

But they changed plans at the last minute because Walter Smith and Co were flying into Glasgow, while a planeload of Scotland fans was bound for Edinburgh.

Miko has praised the Tartan Army for going gently on them after their side's 2-1 defeat but admits he still has the sound of Flower of Scotland ringing in his ears.

He said: "We were supposed to be going on the official flight but it was flying to Glasgow and that would have meant a taxi-ride home to Edinburgh when we touched down.

"There was an aircraft of Scotland fans going directly to Edinburgh so it made more sense for Marius and I to go with them.

"They were very good with us - they made some jokes, of course, and they were singing on the way home as always but they didn't tease us too much. The flight passed quickly and we got home around 2am."

Miko's Hearts team-mates Edgaras Jankauskas and Deividas Cesnauskas, both of whom were ruled out of the Scotland clash through injury and illness, travelled back to Edinburgh yesterday on scheduled flights.

Mikoliunas admits he was glad to be spared another flight from hell after preparations for the Scotland game were interrupted by the weather as they flew home from Italy with a memorable 1-1 draw against the world champions on Saturday.

He said: "It was a fantastic result in Naples but we had a bad trip home and spent five hours at Warsaw airport because of fog in Lithuania.

"It did not help our preparation for the Scotland game but I still believe we deserved to take something.

"We created a couple of chances in the first half and kept the ball better but did not have luck when we needed it.

"I must also give credit to Scotland because they performed well and have a strong team who have started qualification well with two victories.

"It will still be difficult for them to qualify because of the quality of sides such as France and Italy in our section."

Mikoliunas returned to training yesterday for Hearts' game against St Mirren at Tynecastle tomorrow.

He passed only brief congratulations to team-mates Craig Gordon, Robbie Neilson, Steven Pressley and Paul Hartley after Wednesday's game but expects them to go easy with the wind-ups.

He said: "They've already told me they won't talk about the game too much. They understand how disappointed we feel at losing."

Taken from the Daily Record