Balogh building new relationships

Balogh is confident about making the goalkeeper's jersey his own in Edinburgh in spite of competition from Jamie McDonald and Marian Kello. "The club have three good goalkeepers and we must fight for the No 1 position," he said. "Only if I play my best will I keep that jersey. Of course it's difficult for me to match what Craig Gordon did here, I think that would be difficult for anyone. But if I play well every week then maybe the fans and the media won't think of Craig so much.

"When I first came to Hearts on loan last summer, I hoped to create a good impression. I've enjoyed my time with the club and like Edinburgh, it's a very good city. That's what made me think about staying here."

Before returning from injury in last week's Scottish Cup loss against Falkirk, 11 of Balogh's 12 previous appearances for the club were in partnership with Christophe Berra and Marius Zaliukas. Now the former captain has moved on to Wolves and the Lithuanian is serving a four match suspension, the goalkeeper understands how essential it will be against Aberdeen this afternoon to form a reliable understanding with Karipidis and Jonsson.

Since Berra left, Hearts have looked less secure under high balls and vulnerable at set pieces. Yet Balogh insists there's no reason why those who come in at centre-back can't make a name for themselves. "It's difficult to replace good players, but we've been trying every day in training to make a good relationship between defenders ( Karipidis and Jonsson] and the goalkeeper. That's important, but defending is a responsibility for the whole team, not just a few players."

Reluctant to talk about individuals he can't pick to face Aberdeen, Laszlo moved the debate away from defensive frailty to an attack which fired blanks in successive defeats against Hamilton and Falkirk. He explained Jonsson was selected up front against Falkirk to trouble their veteran centre-backs with his movement in order to create space for Gary Glen. The coach thought the strategy worked up to a point, since chances were created which the youngster missed.

Against Aberdeen and for the duration of Zaliukas' suspension, Jonsson will revert to centre-back. This means Christian Nade returns from injury to fill the lone striker role with support coming from Glen. "Gary Glen is always a player who can be in the right place, but he must score," added Laszlo. "We don't have many strikers at the moment and on Saturday he can be in the first XI." Laryea Kingston, who started for Ghana in a 2-2 draw with African champions Egypt on Wednesday, is unavailable.

With Hearts in fourth spot on 38 points and Aberdeen fifth on 37, Laszlo doesn't underestimate the importance of today's match in the chase for a top six place. Bruno Aguiar, Hearts' most creative midfielder, has also indicated that qualifying for next season's Europa League would influence him to remain at Tynecastle. "If the club is in Europe I think it is easier for me to stay here, definitely," said the Portuguese playmaker.

If Laszlo was reluctant to dwell on Berra's departure, Jimmy Calderwood, the Aberdeen manager, believes Hearts are certain to miss the Scottish internationalist."I think the fact Hearts have lost their captain and arguably their best player in Christophe Berra must be a blow to the team," he said. "The Hearts defence had been very formidable and with the two big men in the centre they used this to their benefit and often made other teams play the long high ball because they knew those guys could handle it."

The Aberdeen manager relishes the atmosphere at Tynecastle – "It's very intimidating, but I think we've handled that well in recent years" – and believes the loss of Zaliukas as well as Berra at the back for Hearts gives his side an edge.

Calderwood, whose side face Dundee United next week, has set his players a target of winning nine of their 14 remaining SPL matches. That would earn the club a total of 65 points and almost certainly secure third place. "But it will be nip and tuck until the end of the season," he cautioned.

Taken from the Scotsman