Hearts boss losing sleep over SPL opener
Published Date:
08 August 2008
By BARRY ANDERSON
HEARTS manager Csaba Laszlo admits he has toiled to sleep at times this week as excitement intensifies ahead of tomorrow's SPL opener with Motherwell at Tynecastle.
The Hungarian will welcome fit-again Lee Wallace back to his squad for a match which is dominating his thoughts, even causing him to waken several times a night. He recognises the desire for a winning start on his competitive home debut but is cautious of the threat posed by Mark McGhee's UEFA Cup qualifiers.
Laszlo said: "I wake up during the night and I think about football, especially this week when I am thinking only about this game, about my players, about today's training session, which is the last before we play Motherwell.
"Lots of things are running through my mind but at the moment I am thinking only about my team, about my supporters and about this new beginning in Scotland.
"Tonight I will be up two or three times thinking about tomorrow's game because always I only think about football. I think a positive result in the first game can be the signal for the whole season."
Although a newcomer to Scottish football, Laszlo has endeavoured to research Motherwell's style of play and tactics with the help of his coaching staff. "We have information on them, my coach has studied them and I'm sure they will have studied our team too," he continued.
"The first game is important for everybody. We are at home and we had a very good result against Hull City last week. This gives me confidence and the players confidence.
"I hope we have a lot of supporters in the stadium because we definitely must win this game. If you play at home, you are the favourites but we won't speak too much about that. We are only looking at our confidence and winning the first game gives us good preparation for the next games."
Hearts will be without Ruben Palazuelos tomorrow as the Spaniard serves a one-game suspension carried over from last season. A caution against Falkirk in May pushed him through the SFA's disciplinary threshold but he will return to the squad to face Rangers next weekend.
Teenage striker Gary Glen is also unavailable as he is suspended after being red-carded in the final game of last season.
The club expect a crowd of between 13,500 and 14,000 to attend the Motherwell match with individual match briefs said to be selling well.
To purchase a ticket for Hearts v Motherwell, call 0871 663 1874 (option 1), visit www.heartsfc.co.uk or call in at the Tynecastle ticket centre.
The full article contains 445 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
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Last Updated:
08 August 2008 1:42 PM
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Source:
Edinburgh Evening News
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Location:
Edinburgh
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Related Topics:
Heart of Midlothian FC