Wolves prove a class apart in routine win

Bigger, stronger, quicker. Wolves overwhelmed their hosts even without Berra, Jody Craddock, Matt Jarvis and new signing Steven Fletcher in the starting line-up. Hearts grafted, chased and harried, but for much of the evening found themselves second best. Not that this was a cause for embarrassment, merely an emphasis of the gulf between clubs with budgets of £45 million and £7 million respectively. Berra left Edinburgh in a £2.3million transfer in January 2009, explaining at the time that he wanted to play at a higher level than the SPL. It's fair to say he has accomplished his mission, even with one of the Premier League's unfashionable clubs.

Hearts' victories south of the border against Gillingham and Millwall had heightened anticipation ahead of the first of two pre-season friendlies against top-flight English opposition. But a 17-minute pounding from Wolves saw them score twice with alarming ease through Greg Halford and Stephen Ward.

Jim Jefferies, the Hearts manager, was keen to keep events in proportion with experienced figures such as Kevin Kyle, Andy Driver, Ruben Palazuelos, David Obua, Eggert Jonsson and Ismael Bouzid absent. Nonetheless, he couldn't fail to notice the chasm between the two sides.

"We need to put things in perspective," said Jefferies. "Wolves had a strong squad and, when you see the players we were missing, that's what we needed last night. Presence, height and experience to compete. You know you're going to have to work hard because they will have a lot of possession. They are a decent side who play against Man Utd and Chelsea in their league. We didn't have our strongest players available.

"Eggert or Bouzid might have been needed. It was great for those available to come in and let me see what they can do. I don't think they should get too down, they got stuck in and got tighter in the second half and made it more difficult. You take what you can get out of the match and our fitness levels have stepped up again. We'd have been a bit closer to them if we had more players available.

Credit to them for showing spirit and not letting themselves be turned over.

"I'm hoping Eggert and Bouzid might get clearance for the weekend (both suffered concussion against Millwall on Saturday] because I had to take Blackie off. He's one I h ave to watch because Eggert and Ryan Stevenson are suspended at the start of the season so we can do without losing someone who is available."

The match would have been equally frustrating for Craig Levein, who attended the VIP section hoping to cast an eye over Berra, Fletcher and Lee Wallace. Only Wallace started, with Berra restricted to a 15-minute substitute outing and Fletcher left on the bench. In truth, Wolves didn't need him. Not with Kevin Doyle in explosive form.

Within four minutes Wolves had moved ahead largely thanks to the domineering Irishman. Darren Barr tugged Doyle's jersey as he scarpered clear and the resultant free-kick was clipped rather effortlessly over the Hearts wall and beyond Marian Kello by Halford. A moment later, only the Slovakian's palm prevented Doyle doubling the advantage from another one-on-one situation. The striker's pace and movement constantly tested the home defence and his line-leading skills were clearly far superior to anything offered in the SPL.

The extent of Wolves' dominance was laid bare after 17 minutes when Ward headed the second goal direct from Halford's long throw. Adrian Mrowiec, the Polish trialist, was marking Ward but barely jumped as the ball soared across the face of goal onto the winger's forehead. In addition, Kello did his defenders no favours by refusing to emerge from his goal line, a point made clear to him by the irate Marius Zaliukas. After moving Stevenson back from attack to midfield and matching Wolves' 4-5-1 formation, Hearts began competing better combined with a slight reduction in the visitors' urgency. Craig Thomson and Suso both tested Marcus Hahnemann, while Barr and Stevenson sent attempts wide of goal. The problem of how to combat Wolves' mobility from middle to front remained, but the hosts were at least making a better fist of it. On 35 minutes Kello was airborne to tip the ball over his crossbar from Andy Keogh's powerful volley.

The second period followed much the same pattern as the closing stages of the first. At times it was end-to-end but most inside Tynecastle would have sensed that Wolves were not in top gear given their comfortable lead. On 70 minutes, David Templeton jinked clear of two opponents to execute a cheeky chip at Hahnemann's goal which dropped only narrowly wide. Then Doyle struck a post with a vicious left-footed effort from 25 yards. Substitute David Jones dribbled through the spine of the Hearts team before guiding the ball wide as Kello emerged to challenge him. Hearts pressed forward towards the final minutes but were repelled by the well-organised visiting defence, which by then included Berra. He had little to exert him while on the field.

In fact, his only notable contribution on his return to Tynecastle was to console Fletcher following a first-half barracking by the Hearts support as the pair warmed up. Former Hibs players are never well received in Gorgie.

Jefferies, though, ha d more pressing concerns. "We got off to a terrible start," he admitted. "We gave the ball away up front which led to the first goal, although it was a great free-kick. It was a very simple second goal, a long throw not properly defended. We thought we were in for a bit of a going over at that stage.

"We put three in middle of park because their boy dropping off caused us problems. We played the same system as them but we didn't feel sorry for ourselves, we got tighter.

"Darren Barr should have made it 2-1 with a header that was harder to miss (from Templeton's free-kick]. He got too much on it. In the second half we had another good chance when Calum Elliot headed straight at their goalie. Then they brought on fresh legs and you see the quality that came off their bench. We had inexperienced players coming on."

It wasn't solely inexperience which cost Hearts. From the outset, their diminutive midfield was literally overshadowed by the hulking brutes directly opposite. Black, Templeton and Suso Santana were no match for the physical strength of David Edwards, Nenad Milijas and Ward.

On the positive side, Stevenson gave a good account of himself for the third consecutive match and Lee Wallace more than held his own. But Wolves were simply too powerful and moved the ball around too sharply for Hearts.

Sitting pensively in the away dugout, Berra would have noted the glaring evidence of the gulf between the SPL and its English counterpart.

Hearts (4-4-2): Kello; C Thomson, Barr, Zaliukas, Wallace; Suso, Mrowiec (J Thomson 58), Black (McGowan 58), Templeton (Novikovas 79); Elliot, Stevenson. Subs: Kucharski, Smith, MacDonald, Balogh.

Wolves (4-5-1): Hahnemann; Halford, Stearman, Mouyokolo (Berra 75), Elokobi (Hill 58); Keogh (Mujangi Bia 46), Foley, Edwards, Milijas (Vokes 75), Ward (Jones 75); Doyle (Ebanks-Blake 75). Subs: Ikeme, Jarvis, Guedioura, Craddock, Fletcher.

Referee: Dougie McDonald

Attendance: 5616.

Taken from the Scotsman