Hearts boss Laszlo not satisfied by efforts

BARRY ANDERSON
DESPITE holding a five-point advantage in the quest to return European football to Tynecastle, Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo today declared himself less than satisfied with this season's efforts and demanded more from his players.
Saturday's 1-0 victory over Dundee United delighted the Hungarian but he is already focusing on the importance of tomorrow evening's league assignment against Motherwell. He lamented past home fixtures where points have been wasted, including the recent concession of a stoppage-time goal against St Mirren.

Laszlo praised the discipline shown by his team at Tannadice but said he will endeavour to get more out of his squad between now and the end of the season as Hearts press for entry to UEFA's Europa League.

"Altogether I am not very satisfied," said Laszlo. "I am very unhappy about some games in the past and I know we can achieve more and do more.

"You cannot win every game but I try. I think this mentality is very important and the players see this.

"We beat Dundee United on Saturday but before we could have beaten them at Tynecastle and we did not score. It was the same against Aberdeen and Hibs.

"I tell myself that it's nice to have a five-point advantage but the most important game is the next game and this is Motherwell.

"One point away, especially from a place like Dundee, was our target. I was very unhappy about the St Mirren game and I told the team we must concentrate for as long as the game goes on. We won a lot of games late on this season but only while we were active and concentrated."

Hearts' gameplan for much of this season has centred around a steadfast defence which most teams have found difficult to break down. Laszlo will use the same formula against Motherwell in an attempt to increase his team's lead in third place.

"Tactically you must have big discipline if you would like to win or take points from teams like Dundee United. If the game is 0-0 we must look to score, and I think we were well prepared. You can prepare the team as well as you can but if it doesn't work you have a big problem.

"Our gameplan worked very well and we got a compliment from Craig Levein. He said that if Heart of Midlothian score a goal then afterwards it is very heavy to score against them. This is a compliment from our opponents and I think I must give this back to the Dundee United manager.

"He has a good team and they tried everything in the first half. They had the bigger chances in the first half but we were very concentrated on the field and we had a good goalkeeper in Janos Balogh. It was our first three points from the Dundee stadium in three seasons."

Christian Nade returns to the Hearts squad after suspension against Motherwell and Polish midfielder Adrian Mrowiec should be fit.

Taken from the Scotsman