Hearts close to French sell-out

KENNETH STEPHEN

HEARTS will take their biggest travelling support to Bordeaux tomorrow night since the UEFA Cup quarter-final against Bayern Munich in 1989.

Tynecastle chief executive Chris Robinson confirmed yesterday the club look set to sell out their entire allocation of 3,100 match briefs: only 130 remained yesterday afternoon, with the club’s two official charter flights already fully booked for the Parc de Lescure.

The last time the club had so many away fans in Europe was when they took 3,000 to Munich’s Olympic Stadium in March 1989. Leading by an Iain Ferguson goal from the quarter-final, first leg, they finally succumbed 2-0 to the Germans, 2-1 on aggregate.

Head coach Craig Levein said yesterday: "We are excited about the game and see it as a really big challenge. The most important thing for Hearts is to go over there and come back with a chance of going through.

"Bordeaux are very technical, they knock the ball about well. Hearts have to play the way we play. I don’t think we can change our system, our style of play and try and do anything different. We have to do what we do, play as well as we can, and hope it’s enough to give us the result we want to take back to Tynecastle."

However, Hearts have been dealt a fresh injury blow with the news that midfielder Stephen Simmons is definitely out. He injured his foot whilst training on Monday and is set to have an X-ray to determine the full extent of his injury.

The former Scotland Under- 21 playmaker came on as a substitute in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Livingston and would almost certainly have been in Levein’s plans.

The injury concerns over striker Mark De Vries and full-back Robbie Neilson

have cleared up, while another striker, Graham Weir, who has been hit by a stomach bug, has shown signs of improvement and is set to travel with the squad after being given the green light by doctors.

Forward Gary Wales has suffered a setback in his bid to regain full fitness. The former Hamilton player, who has not played since pre-season after suffering a stress fracture of a foot, has now injured his other foot.

Taken from the Scotsman