Hearts boss hails Karipidis

HEARTS manager Csaba Laszlo labelled Christos Karipidis the find of the season and praised the maturity of his young side following their performance in yesterday's Edinburgh derby.

An impassioned visiting display at Easter Road saw Bruno Aguiar claim plaudits for the equalising goal in a 1-1 draw, his first match after an 18-month injury absence. However, Laszlo reserved special praise for Karipidis, who he has converted from centre-back into an assured holding midfield player.

The Evening News revealed earlier this month that the 25-year-old is attracting attention from his native Greece, where national coach Otto Rehhagel and technical director Takis Fyssas, the former Hearts defender, are considering calling him into the international squad.

Laszlo today moved to further endorse Karipidis' credentials on the back of his efforts against Hibs. "Karipidis, at the moment, is the discovery of the year in the number six position. He had a very confident game and this is what I need," said the Hungarian. "This young team, with the confidence they showed on the field, can be a very good team. Lee Wallace and Andy Driver are under 21, there is also Eggert Jonsson, and Michael Stewart was a leader in the team.

"Also (Christophe] Berra, for his age, did a fantastic job. A lot of times he has asked me about his role as captain. If this team can stay together for one or two years we can be a very good team, definitely. The problem is we always forget to score goals."

Laszlo was referring to several chances Hearts passed up during the 90 minutes, although Hibs did likewise at the opposite end. Christian Nade's disallowed goal, chalked off because referee Eddie Smith adjudged the Frenchman to have fouled goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay in the air, caused the Hungarian particular anguish.

"My opinion is not a criticism of the referee but from my position I didn't think Nade did anything," said Laszlo. "Maybe this is wrong and I will think differently when I see it on TV but now I am the coach from Hearts speaking and I thought it was a goal.

"I was not so confident before the game after losing two matches. We had the break and you don't know what will happen but the team did what we practised during the two weeks and I must compliment them."

Laszlo is now faced with a goalkeeping conundrum for Aberdeen's visit to Tynecastle this weekend after Janos Balogh made a second-half debut yesterday in place of the injured Marian Kello.

"Kello had a knock to the head and he told me in the dressing room at half-time that he didn't have the concentration," explained Laszlo.

"He's in hospital but Kello is a very good keeper. Balogh is a young guy, he was in the Hungarian national team and has played a lot of internationals. He has also played a lot of derbies. He has a contract until December and we can decide about his future after that.

"If Kello is fit I have a big problem now on Saturday over which keeper to play."