Kari hopes Hearts are heading to Hampden

BARRY ANDERSON
HAVING achieved an inspirational victory over Hibernian in the last round of the Scottish Cup, Hearts are determined to ensure those exertions are not rendered worthless tomorrow when they host Falkirk in the fifth round of the competition.
The elation at eliminating their greatest rivals and prolonging a barren cup run at Easter Road that will now stretch to 108 years still courses through those involved in the 2-0 victory. None more so than Christos Karipidis, whose peerless performance against Hibs included a defence-splitting pass for Gary Glen to score the decisive second goal.

The Greek was appointed vice-captain of Hearts this week and spoke of his honour as a foreigner bestowed with such responsibility. His contract is due to expire in June, which may coincide with a review of the captaincy as his superior, Robbie Neilson, will also be a free agent by then if a new agreement is not signed. Karipidis isn't for looking that far ahead, however.

It is clear from a chat with the amiable midfielder at Riccarton that he is preoccupied only with the imminent cup assignment, perhaps mindful that, if he is to leave Edinburgh, a Scottish Cup final triumph at Hampden on May 30 would be the ideal swansong.

"This would be the best ending. I dream about this," he said. "If you win the cup, it is the best time for the team, the fans and everybody. All season we work very hard in training and in games so to finish by taking the cup would be a gift for us.

"I don't want to talk too much about the cup because it's too early. There is too far to go until the final. We must think about playing a good game tomorrow first.

"We had one good win against Hibs but now it's important to take this game.

"Putting Hibs out was good for us but, if we lose now, that game will be for nothing. If we win we will feel very good. We began the tournament very well at Easter Road and that makes this game even more important. Beating Hibs gave us confidence but it is not easy to win the cup.

"There are a lot of good games and nobody ever wants to lose a cup tie but, if we win on Saturday, there are still seven other teams who will go through and wait for us in the next round.

"I think the team is ready for this game. Falkirk beat Aberdeen last week in the league and they will also want to go through."

Karipidis endorsed Neilson's appointment as captain wholeheartedly, acknowledging that choosing the longest serving player, and a Scot to boot, was a sensible move by manager Csaba Laszlo.

His own footballing career has included enough peaks and troughs to accord him the necessary experience to be Neilson's deputy. At former club PAOK Salonika, he performed the same duty from the age of 22 and spoke of the bond it creates between the manager and senior players. "It is very important for me to be the second captain because it shows the manager trusts me," said Karipidis, now in his third season at Tynecastle.

"I am also happy for Robbie. He is a nice person and a good player who knows everything about the club.

"He has been here year after year and he will try to help the players and the manager with some problems in the team.

"Robbie and I can work together and, as a captain, you must play very well on the pitch. The captain does not only put the armband on. You must also help everybody in the dressing room.

"At PAOK I was also second captain so I know very well what I must do. It's not new for me. If I can explain, in Greece every club has three captains and I enjoyed being second captain. I was only 22 but it was good preparation."

Falkirk's influential midfielder Kevin McBride is precluded from facing Hearts due to a broken back, discovered following hospital scans this week. "Kevin has a hairline fracture in his back, so he needs to rest for the next two or three weeks," explained manager John Hughes. "He just picked it up through stress on the area and it's disappointing because he's probably one of our most consistent players this year."

Nonetheless, the visitors will arrive at Tynecastle bearing several steely competitors with experience of Scottish Cup success, two of them with Hearts. Neil McCann and Steven Pressley were victors in 1998 and 2006 respectively during their halcyon years at the club, while Jackie McNamara is on first name terms with the famous trophy having won it three times with Celtic in 2001, 2004 and 2005.

Burton O'Brien won Scotland's other major knockout tournament, the League Cup, with Livingston in 2004, so John Hughes will be in little doubt that his charges possess the required know-how to shoulder cup-tie pressure.

"I think this game is interesting for the Hearts fans," continued Karipidis. "Some of the Falkirk players played for Hearts for a long time, now they come back and they will give us a hard game. I have played many games like this in Scotland and they are always hard.

"We want to continue in the cup so we need to win this game to make the next round."

No victory over Hibs could ever be termed a waste, but the need to continue momentum after victory at Easter Road is likely to spur Karipidis and his colleagues to an extra effort tomorrow.

Taken from the Scotsman