Viking raid for Velicka will hurt Hearts' hopes

The Lithuanian is believed to be on the verge of a move to the Norwegian club for a fee in excess of £1million, although the player has yet to agree personal terms.

Velicka's departure from Tynecastle would leave interim head coach Stephen Frail with very little in the way of striking options, having allowed Michal Pospisil to quit Edinburgh during last month's transfer window and seen Roman Bednar flourish during his loan spell in the English Championship with West Bromwich Albion under former Hibs boss Tony Mowbray.

In Velicka's absence, Christian Nade, who has struggled for fitness since his arrival from Sheffield United in the summer, and young Calum Elliot who was loaned out to Motherwell for three months last season would appear to be their only out-and-out forwards.

The pair have scored just seven goals between them this season, however, while Velicka has racked up 14 in all competitions so far and Watson – chairman of the Hearts Supporters' Trust – believes Hearts may well have stacked the odds against themselves in the race to make the top six before the SPL splits, let alone have any hope of bagging a European spot.

Watson said: "Losing Andrius Velicka is very much going to make the difference between finishing in the top or the bottom six in the league this season.

"Prior to the Celtic game we had gone three games with clean sheets and were defending pretty well, but at this stage it's all about scoring goals. If we let Velicka go, who do we play up front now? It doesn't leave us with many options.

"With so much at stake for us in the league right now this is probably the worst possible time to be allowing forwards to leave the club.

"We are trying to climb up the league into the top half before it splits, but if we are going to do that we need to be scoring goals and Andrius Velicka is our main, if not only, real source right now. He is the one person who can score goals – and score them regularly – and he has proved that over the course of this season and the last.

"I don't see where we are going to score goals from if he is not around.

"Okay, maybe we have not seen the best of Christian Nade as yet but we're really going to be thin on the ground up front. At this stage of the season, letting Velicka go would be a very negative move."

The Tynecastle side utilised the transfer window sparingly, bringing in only Fernando Screpis, an Argentinian midfielder from FC Kaunas.

And with the signing period now over until the summer, Watson fears that his side may have been caught short, adding: "We can't go out and buy anyone because the transfer window is closed now, it is too late for us.

"We are stuck with what we have got until the end of the season now. We only bought one player in January and he was a midfielder – but almost everyone that I spoke to prior to the window opening thought that our priority should have been a striker.

"The majority of Hearts supporters would agree with that. We already needed at least one other player who could play through the middle to take the pressure off Velicka and maybe tee a few up for him. And if we had brought in someone who could weigh in with eight or ten goals himself then that would have made a huge difference but now it looks as though we are back to the drawing board again."

Watson believes that Frail has used the player to the best of his potential over the last few weeks, playing him in every game of his tenure as interim head coach.

And if the Tynecastle side suffer in the striker's absence Watson conceded that the club's supporters could vent their frustrations from the stands in games to come: "Stephen Frail obviously likes him as a player because he has used him in every game that he has been in charge so far and I think that getting a real run in the team has benefited him immensely. He has played much better without the rotation system that was used so much last season and in the early part of this season.

"I'm sure that some of the Hearts fans will show their frustrations if things don't go our way against Motherwell. It's just another blow in what has been a bit of a bumpy ride for Hearts supporters over the last few seasons.

"We've just got to hope that we can get through it somehow, find the goals from somewhere else and get back up the table."

THE FACTS

July 2006: Velicka plays as a trialist – and scores – in Hearts' 2-0 friendly win over Osasuna at Murrayfield.

August: Signs on season-long loan deal from FBK Kaunas.

October: Makes first Hearts start and scores first goal in 4-0 drubbing of Dundee United at Tynecastle. Follows that up a fortnight later with double in 2-2 derby draw with Hibs at Easter Road.

November: Scores 73rd-minute opener at Parkhead only to see Hearts lose to 2-1 after late own goal by keeper Craig Gordon.

January 2007: Scores hat-trick in 4-0 Scottish Cup win over Stranraer. January 20: Clash with Darren Barr sees the Falkirk defender sent off for violent conduct. The furious Bairns accuse the Lithuanian of conning the referee and a subsequent appeal of the red card is upheld.

August 2007: Despite scorin
g 11 goals in his season-long loan spell, Velicka is sent home to Kaunas amid reports of interest from clubs in Russia. However, within days he agrees a one-year loan deal with Hearts following a U-turn by club management.

September: Scores clinching goal in 2-0 win over Motherwell at Fir Park.

October: Comes off bench to net superb brace and clinch CIS Cup quarter-final win over Celtic at Parkhead.

December: CSKA Moscow and Bolton Wanderers understood to be monitoring Velicka, who, despite spending large spells on the bench, had netted 9 goals.

February 2008: Evening News reveals Viking Stavanger are weighing up swoop for striker before Norwegian transfer window shuts on April 1.

February 10: Grabs double against Gretna to take goals tally to 14 for the season so far.

February 23: It is understood a £1 million+ transfer of Velicka to Viking has been agreed.

Taken from the Scotsman