Team spirit is high as Hearts focus on Gers

Some, if not all, of the club's supporters are taking the opportunity to herald the Lithuanian influence, a welcome shift in tack arguably motivated by the barracking of Mikoliunas since last September's antics against Scotland. Hearts fans don't take kindly to one of their own being harangued in such a fashion and their response would have made the nationwide caning somewhat easier for Miko to digest. Public criticism resurfaced at Pittodrie after the winger was cautioned by referee William Collum for diving in the penalty area. Except he was clearly tripped by Jeffrey de Visscher.

His first-half performance was admittedly bereft of industry but he recovered after the interval to offer greater effectiveness on the left flank. Indeed, chants of "Miko, Miko", and "Andrius Velicka" were features of that second half.

World beaters they aren't, but players like Mikoliunas, Velicka, Deividas Cesnauskis and, on Saturday's evidence, Ricardas Beniusis are buying into Frail's philosophy. In turn, it is endearing them to supporters and making for a togetherness from which Hearts can only benefit.

"Miko went a wee bit over the top on Saturday, throwing his shirt to the fans. It's not like we'd just won a cup final or anything," grinned captain Christophe Berra. "But it showed what this club means to these boys. If someone makes a mistake on the pitch, one of us is in there behind him trying to help him out of it. We were lacking that attitude in the first half of the season and it's changed over the last few weeks.

"Any victory is going to give the boys confidence and we'll be high going in against Rangers now. We know we've already beaten them at Tynecastle and went close to a point at Ibrox. We know on our day we can beat them, but it depends which Hearts turns up at 7.45 tomorrow."

Alluding to a hitherto inconsistent campaign, Berra explained the uplifting effect of beating Aberdeen. He is also satisfied on a personal level with two clean sheets from consecutive SPL matches for the first time this season.

"I think this can be a springboard because Pittodrie is a very difficult place to come to," he continued. "We do have a wee rivalry going with Aberdeen but we won on Saturday, which was our second clean sheet in three matches. In the other, we only lost 1-0 to a penalty (against Motherwell in the Scottish Cup] so that's a positive for us.

"If we can continue being strong in defence and take our chances up front, we'll be okay. We created a lot at Pittodrie and maybe should have scored a couple more but, in the end, one goal was enough to settle it.

"Aberdeen pushed a lot of folk up front, as Jimmy Calderwood is apt to do. We dealt with all the long balls and we were all fighting for one another. There is definitely a better spirit now. It was a physical game and Lee Miller was trying everything. I don't think the referee was too fair in some of the decisions he gave but that's football for you. We showed great character and could have won by three or four. I don't think Banksy had a save to make apart from a long-range shot near the end. Aberdeen never really troubled us."

In contrast, Christian Nade, scorer of the only goal, caused consternation amongst home defenders all afternoon. He can often exhibit a devil-may-care attitude and his inability to complete 90 minutes frustrates Frail more than anyone. Nonetheless, when in the mood, the Frenchman acts as a refreshing tonic on the side.

"Nade did really well. He has all the attributes, he's strong, quick and if he produces that week in, week out, he'll be a great player for us," said Berra. "But that's what he needs to do. He can't just do it in one or two games, it has to be eight, nine or ten in a row. If he can manage that, he'll go places and really help the team. He took his goal brilliantly and it's got us three points. We've said so many times before, 'is this result a turning point?' I don't really want to tempt fate. Only time will tell. If we perform like we did on Saturday, show spirit and strength of character, then maybe come May we'll look back on it as a turning point. Then again, maybe not. We can only hope."

Whilst Mikoliuna
s and others celebrated deliriously with travelling fans at Pittodrie, Frail was in amongst them offering hearty congratulations to men who are finally showing bottle for the battle.

Berra added: "Shaggy was ecstatic and said it's such a great feeling to get three points up there. It's a long bus journey up and Neil McCann and a few others usually play Trivial Pursuit to pass the time. Shaggy told them to play it on the way back as well and enjoy the victory on the journey home."

A long trip which brought another small step on the road to recovery. Rangers will be an altogether different proposition in tomorrow's semi-final given their three-year trophy famine. However, if Hearts can procure another win, Mikoliunas may feel compelled to throw a few more items of clothing onto the terraces of the national stadium.

It would certainly be an ideal way to exorcise his Hampden ghosts.

Taken from the Scotsman