Renaissance man Elliot is back on song

After two sublime strikes allied to Christos Karipidis' opener, he ended the afternoon looking more potent than Prince Harry in combat with the Taliban. And his critics duly responded.

The aforementioned tune, despite its sarcastic undertone, would have been music to Elliot's ears. The Hearts-supporting striker has for some time been insisting that fans' carping hasn't undermined his confidence, but in truth no-one is immune when confronted by such personal disparagement.

A goal in either half against Inverness betrayed evidence of the ability which has convinced Stephen Frail to retain faith in one of his protégés, whom he coached at under-19 level. The caretaker manager has even gone as far as discussing Elliot's worth with chiding supporters behind Tynecastle's home dugout this season, so convinced has he been that Hearts have indeed developed a precocious talent.

Saturday brought public justification for Frail and no little satisfaction for Elliot. He slammed the ball low beyond Michael Fraser on 33 minutes after some insightful creative play by Saulius Mikoliunas and the equally impressive Christian Nade on the right flank. That doubled Hearts' advantage following Karipidis' headed opener from Andy Driver's corner.

Moments into the second half, defensive confusion on the edge of the Inverness penalty area presented Elliot with the chance for a third. In the space of a millisecond, he adjusted his balance to angle a perfect lob over the disorientated Fraser into an empty net.

Goals apart, Elliot's overall performance was that of a player imbued with confidence from somewhere. He and Nade looked to have established a sound understanding and caused untold problems for a porous home defence.

"It's difficult when you're getting criticism, but at the end of the day you just have to accept it, brush it off and become stronger," said Elliot.

"I've always had faith in my ability and I'm sure Hearts' hearts' coaching staff did too. Maybe it was just a sticky spell which every player can go through. I'm not saying that's it over now, but hopefully this is the start of a good period for me.

"It might shut a few people up but I know there are some people who will like me and some who won't. That's just part and parcel of football."

Inverness manager Craig Brewster could only lament the marauding form of the visiting forward line allied to his own side's defensive shortcomings. His club, like Hearts, harbour genuine ambitions for a top-six finish, but this result propelled the Tynecastle side to within a point of Falkirk, who currently sit sixth in the table, leaving the Highlanders three points further back.

"It was a disappointing day," explained Brewster. "It just shows you the importance of scoring first in this league. We should have cleared the ball before Hearts got the set-piece.

" I stressed before the game how quickly Mikoliunas and Driver can hit us on the break and that's how the second arrived. A poor back-pass led to the third and that killed us. I don't think Hearts had to play really well to score three goals against us and that's the disappointing thing."

Elliot's fortunes were in marked contrast to Hearts' previous encounter with Inverness, when he was introduced as a sub by Stephen Frail during a 3-2 home defeat in December and then taken off with some 25 minutes still to play.

"I was disappointed that day but I know what Shaggy did was for the best," he recalled. "It builds your character up and I have to try and stay focused for the team.

"Shaggy's been great with me. He's been at the club since I started and he's shown great faith in me. I haven't scored as many goals as I wanted to but I got two on Saturday so hopefully there's many more to come."

Many Hearts fans spent the latter part of last week in mourning following the departure of top goalscorer Andrius Velicka and the heavy home loss to Rangers. Nonetheless, if Elliot and Nade continue to develop their partnership, memories of the Lithuanian won't linger long in the mind.

Jose Goncalves was an absentee on Saturday after storming out of Tynecastle following his substitution against Rangers.

He returned to Portugal on Saturday morning having been banished from the squad by Frail, who has insisted the full-back should report back to Riccarton on Monday morning.

"Everyone was gutted by our performance on Wednesday but a lot of people went overboard in terms of saying it was a crisis. It was one bad performance," stressed Elliot.

"With Andrius leaving, it's a great opportunity for me and the rest of the boys now. He was a regular when he was here. All I have to do is take the opportunities when I get them and try to stay in the team.

"Playing alongside someone like Christian, they're going to create chances for you. Everyone saw on Saturday how good a player he is. Some of the things he does are a bit unexpected but that's one of his advantages. You just don't know what he's going to do and he has that ab
ility to go past players as if they aren't there. You just need to step back and learn from some of the things he does.

"He takes some knocking off the ball, he's got a great touch and he knows where the goal is as well. He's got everything to become a top player. It's maybe taken time for him to settle here and realise his potential."

Likewise Elliot, who, but for a productive few months under Graham Rix in 2006, has largely flattered to deceive in a first-team context for Hearts.

He continued: "Some of the criticism is unfair but it's something I'd kind of got used to. I just have to try to prove them wrong and get them onside again. The only way I'm going to do that is by scoring goals and helping Hearts do well."

It was certainly mission accomplished for Elliot on Saturday. A continuance of his personal revival might see the newly-coined chant given a regular airing.

Taken from the Scotsman