John's satisfaction

26.08.2012

Hearts boss John McGlynn declared himself satisfied as his side dug in to claim a hard-earned point against a resurgent Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

Scott Vernon hit the woodwork twice for the Dons, while new dad Jamie Macdonald shrugged off tiredness to make a string of top saves as Hearts struggled to keep Aberdeen at bay, while an Andrew Driver volley deep into injury time almost snatched an implausible victory but instead smacked off the post.
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Speaking after the game, John reflected on what he saw, and indeed what might have been a cruel defeat from Aberdeen's perspective: "I think we'd have mugged them," he said. "That's the sort of crazy thing that can happen in football though.

"We had our backs to the wall but we could have nicked the game in the last few seconds. That would have been harsh on Aberdeen."

Hearts had the look of a team running on empty after Thursday's exhausting Europa League clash with Liverpool, but held together and resiliently snuffed out the Dons until the end.

"The guys were tired from Thursday," he continued. "But we came up to an improving Aberdeen side and we've gotten what's proven to be a very well earned point."

Finally, after being replaced at half time today, John revealed skipper Marius Zaliukas is a huge doubt for Thursday's second leg at Anfield after suffering a reoccurrence of a niggling thigh injury. Despite the captain's possible absence though, John is sure that his squad won't have any issues in getting themselves motivated for such a big match.

"Marius is a big doubt, he took two jags this week and we had to get him off the pitch today, he's struggling badly, " John stated.

"We don't have much of a squad to pick from, so the lads will have to keep up their levels.

"The lads won't need motivation on Thursday, it'll be a full stadium and a wall of noise and the adrenaline will get them through it. I'm looking forward to it."

Hearts World