Hibs and Hearts weigh up options in goal and attack

SATURDAY's stalemate in the Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle was as much down to an excellent goalkeeping display by Hibernian's Yves Ma-Kalambay as it was to Hearts' long-standing problems in front of goal.

Both areas were on the agenda yesterday as the clubs looked ahead to their meeting at Easter Road in the Homecoming Scottish Cup on Sunday.

Despite Ma-Kalambay's confident performance, the 22-year-old keeper is facing stiff competition for the No.1 spot after Hibs' recent signing of the former Dundee United player Grzegorz Szamotulski, who will be eligible for the cup-tie. The Easter Road side have also taken Danish keeper Emil Ousager on trial from Randers FC as they attempt to stabilise what has been perceived as a problem position.
advertisement

Hearts, meanwhile, are hoping the return of striker Calum Elliot from his prolific loan spell at Livingston will help boost their "goals for" column.

The Scotland Under-21 cap, who scored 11 times for the first division side, was widely expected to move on during the transfer window, but Csaba Laszlo, the Hearts manager, insists he will be considered for first-team duty.

Laszlo wants his paymasters to sanction the signing of a striker to link up with one-goal marksman Christian Nade but says Elliot is also in his thoughts ahead of tomorrow's rearranged league game at Motherwell.

He said: "I am happy to welcome back Calum to Hearts. He has scored a lot of goals this season and we need to improve our own goalscoring so it was important that he comes back to our squad.

"He is rightly very confident after his time at Livingston and this can only be good news for Hearts as we enter an important time in the season."

Mixu Paatelainen, the Hibs manager, says he has taken no decision on who will keep goal against Hearts, but Ma-Kalambay is in the driving seat.

"What Yves did on Saturday merely confirmed what I already knew about him - he's a great keeper. I've always known that and always believed in him. Yes, I've signed another keeper and, because of that, people are saying that I don't rate Yves. That's simply not true.

"I think he will get a boost from having another keeper around and the added competition for him and Andy McNeil can only be healthy for Hibs and for their careers.

"I would never say that a keeper is a definite No.1 for me because in football circumstances can change quickly. All I can promise the keepers at this club is that I will pick the one that impresses me most on a weekly basis and we'll wait and see who that is at the weekend."

Ma-Kalambay said: "I'll welcome the guy to the club. It doesn't put any extra pressure on me. I'll just keep doing what I do. Hopefully, it's going to be healthy competition and a challenge. People who know me know I'm all about challenges."

Hearts will have left-back Lee Wallace and centre-half Andrius Zaliukas available after suspension for the forthcoming trips to Fir Park and Easter Road and Laszlo is also hoping to have injured midfielder Bruno Aguiar back for the cup match.

Christos Karipidis is likely to miss the Motherwell match with an ankle knock and Hearts will be without a recognised right-back with Robbie Neilson suspended and Jason Thomson a doubt due to a head knock.

n Hibs yesterday apologised to the family of the late Hearts captain, George Miler, after a "small number" of their supporters failed to observe a minute's silence on Saturday in the honour of the former Dunfermline, Wolves, Hearts and Falkirk player, who died aged 69 recently.

Hearts also criticised their supporters after a minority were heard to sing a song during the 0-0 draw mocking Hibs substitute Dean Shiels because of his loss of an eye as a child.

As well as expressing regret at their own supporters' behaviour, Hibs also revealed they had held talks with Hearts yesterday over "a number of other issues which arose in the margins of the match and which have no place within football".

Hearts, who have also been criticised for the content of their matchday programme, which poked fun at Hibs and included a cartoon depicting Easter Road chairman Rod Petrie as Ebenezer Scrooge, did not issue a personal apology to Shiels for their supporters' actions. However, they reminded fans there was "no place" for such behaviour and called on their following to uphold the "pride and dignity" of the club.

Taken from the Herald