Mullen wants Hearts to lift League Cup for Zaliukas

By ALAN PATTULLO
Published on Saturday 16 February 2013 04:21

ALTHOUGH only 19 and with just five first-team appearances to his name, Fraser Mullen is still conversant with the language of the dressing room.

The Hearts full-back digested the news that Marius Zaliukas is unlikely to play again this season and proposed bringing the League Cup back to Tynecastle for the first time in over 50 years in tribute to the absent skipper.

Zaliukas has helped Mullen settle since he broke back into the team last month, a year after his debut against Auchinleck Talbot in the Scottish Cup. “It is a big blow to lose Marius Zaliukas because he is such an influential player on the park for Hearts and he will be sadly missed,” he said yesterday.

“Marius is a vocal player and he helps you and talks you through the game and he helps ease your nerves before the game. He is our leader and our captain and he is a top defender. If you are not doing something right he will not be slow in letting you know but he always tries to help and encourage you on the park.

“The boys would love to win the League Cup for Marius and his absence will 
inspire us to try and do that as he has been such a big player for this club down throughout the years.” Mullen is eyeing a place in the team for the Scottish Communities Cup final clash against St Mirren next month. Zaliukas would have been suspended in any event, but Mullen is sure the Lithuanian will bring his experience to bear in the run-up to the game, as he recovers from an operation to repair injured ankle ligaments.

“I am sure Marius will want to still be in and around the dressing room dishing out advice 
before the cup final as that is the kind of guy that he is. Marius has been here for a few years and he is our skipper and the Hearts fans just love him so it would be great to win the League Cup for him. There are other guys like Andy Webster too who are just as influential as Marius and they both do the same job as Andy acts like a captain on the park and talks you through it all.

“I have only played a few games and hopefully I can keep my place in the team,” the teenager added. “The League Cup final is in the back of everybody’s mind and the goal and the target is to be in the starting XI for that match.”

First of all comes this afternoon’s clash with in-form Kilmarnock. “It is hard not to think about the cup final but you have to try and focus on the league games,” he said. “Every time you get a chance you just have to do well and be in the team for the following week.”

Mullen was a surprise inclusion in the side for the semi-final victory over Inverness, and has kept his place ever since. He was helped in his efforts to re-acclimatise to first-team football due to the presence of so many fellow Riccarton graduates around him. Callum Tapping, Jason Holt, Scott Robinson and Jamie Walker also played that day against Inverness at Easter Road, with Hearts sealing a place in the final after victory in the penalty shootout. “I was very nervous for my first game against Inverness but once I was on the park I was fine, especially as I am playing with lots of the younger players that I have played alongside in the under-17s and under-19s,” he reflected. “We all know each others’ game inside out and we are all good mates.

“If you look about the park and you see your pals and friendly faces then that also helps you settle into matches. We finished runners-up in the league with the under-19s two years in a row so we were a decent side.

“I played against Auchinleck Talbot in the early rounds of the Scottish Cup last season,” he added. “If I was to play in the League Cup final it would be much bigger and a lot more special as we would be trying to win the trophy. I was at the game when Hearts beat Hibs in the Scottish Cup final last May and it was a great experience to see the boys lift the cup and hopefully I can get the chance to try and emulate that team.”

Taken from the Scotsman