GOG GUNS FOR SCOTS AFTER JAMBOS KO

GUTTED Gogita Gogua last night vowed to make Scotland pay for the collapse of his move to Hearts - by helping Georgia beat Alex McLeish's team in the Euro 2008 qualifiers.

The midfielder was devastated when he was refused a UK work permit - because of Georgia's poor FIFA ranking - and accused the Tynecastle club of a lack of professionalism.

Gogua said: "Up until the last minute I thought I'd be going to Hearts. It's been a big blow and could have been handled more professionally.

"If Hearts knew there would be a problem because of Georgia's ranking they should have sorted this out earlier."

Gogua had no problem meeting the Home Office ruling that non-EU players must have played in at least 75 per cent of their country's internationals over the previous two years. But the fact Georgia are only 95th in the FIFA rankings counted heavily against him.

Only players from nations ranked 70th or higher are given automatic consideration for permits.

Now Gogua says he'll be even more fired up Georgia's clash against Scotland at Hampden next month.

He said: "It means I now have an extra motivation for us to beat Scotland.

"I need to focus on the games coming up for the national team.

"The main thing now is that Georgia needs to improve its ranking. We are 95th but we need to be in the top 70."

Gogua, a free agent, is not ruling out the possibility he could move to Hearts in the future but in the meantime he is confident there will be no shortage of demand for his services.

He added: "There has been a lot of interest in me from clubs in Germany, Turkey and Russia."

Taken from the Daily Record