Miko saves point for Hearts as Bairns wait

With only three games remaining to make up the ground, the only certainty for Hearts supporters seems to be that it will go right down to the wire.

Interim head coach Stephen Frail admitted that his side's hopes of somehow fighting back to win a place in the UEFA Cup seem to be fading. However he refused to write off their chances: "It is looking very unlikely now after the weekend's results. However it has always been the target, ever since we found ourselves second from bottom, to get into the top six.

"Even then that won't be deemed a success by me or anybody at the club, that is where we want to be – in there with a chance and doing as well as we can. We want to be fighting as high up as we can and get some of our guys a bit of confidence and try to hit the ground running at the start of next season.

"We needed three points – it was good to get a goal late on but it was only for a draw and it doesn't really help us in our quest to make the top six. I thought that for periods of the game we controlled it although we didn't have that many chances.

"To be honest I couldn't see us really losing a goal from open play but it was a long ball from a free-kick and we didn't defend it very well so I was disappointed with that."

Mikoliunas was involved in an early collision with the Buddies' John Potter which resulted in the defender being stretchered off the park unconscious. The Lithuanian had been attempting an overhead kick right on the edge of the box but instead connected with Potter full in the face, resulting in a sickening thud that was clearly audible around the ground. The player, who was bleeding from a head wound, received several minutes of treatment on the park before being taken to hospital.

And Mikoliunas admitted that the incident had left him shaken afterwards, adding: "I was very sorry for the player and I have apologised for what happened. I just did not see him, I was trying for the overhead kick and it just happened.

"I was worried that it was very serious, I could see that he was bleeding and I was worried about him.

"I was a bit in shock and was a little bit shaky as well afterwards and it was hard to concentrate for a little while."

Mikoliunas, who had already been jeered by sections of the Saints crowd, most likely in relation to his controversial tumble in the penalty box for Lithuania against Scotland last year, was singled out for more treatment from the home fans for the remainder of the game.

But, with over six months having passed from that Hampden match, Miko insists that he doesn't let it get to him any more and praised Frail and the Hearts supporters for the backing they have given him: "The manager has always been behind me and the supporters as well.

"From the start I got stick from the opposition fans but for me now, I don't worry about it.

"They shout at all of our players, but especially me."

Striker Christian Nade, as expected, missed out as the result of a niggling groin injury so Stephen Frail handed Jamie Mole his first start of the season. Calum Elliot had the first sight of goal for the Jambos when, after stepping away from two defenders, he tried his luck with a long-range effort that flashed just wide of the St Mirren goalkeeper Chris Smith's left-hand post.

A ball from Ruben Palazuelos a couple of minutes later picked out Elliot again but just as he prepared to whip the ball across goal he was brought down by David van Zanten on the left of the Saints box.

Referee Willie Collum rightly pulled it back and awarded the Tynecastle side a free-kick, which Mikoliunas took, but it was headed away before any of the Hearts front men could get a sniff.

The Love Street side almost took the lead with 13 minutes gone – but it was shoddy defending rather than accuracy from Saints which handed them the chance. It came from a corner, and a poor one at that, from Stephen McGinn which was somehow missed by the Jambos' defence and Ian Maxwell met it only for his effort to be blocked by the body of Christophe Berra.

Saints suffered a blow just before the half hour when they lost Potter after that head injury and the home side had to rely on their goalkeeper to keep the scores level ten minutes before the break when David Barron lost out to Mole.

The powerful young striker released Driver and the Englishman did nothing wrong, but Smith was equal to his shot and pulled off a brilliant block to concede a corner. Just a matter of seconds later Christos Karipidis could have edged Hearts in front when he found himself in space but his header was well held by Smith, who got down quickly to his left.

Saints took the lead just before the hour when a punt up the park from Maxwell caught out Greek defender Karipidis, who let the ball bounce over him. That was enough of an invitation for Craig Dargo, who nipped in to head the ball into Jim Ham
ilton's path and the former Hearts player hit the ball down off the turf and into the net past a helpless Steve Banks. Gus MacPherson's side should have doubled their advantage in 69 minutes when the impressive Andy Dorman played a neat one-two with Dargo and it looked like his shot would seal the points, but instead the ball came back off the base of Banks' left-hand post.

And the Buddies were made to pay for that miss when Mikoliunas made the most of a Deividas Cesnauskis corner which wasn't properly cleared by the home defence and lashed the ball past Smith from 20 yards to earn Hearts a point.

Saints boss MacPherson believed his side should have taken all three points and said: "Anyone who was at the game knows that we should have won it, we created as lot of chances and played some decent stuff at times.

"There's a lot of things that we can be pleased with."

Taken from the Scotsman