Jimmy Calderwood warns Hearts: Selling Berra may have cost you third place in SPL

Feb 13 2009 By Ian Orr

ABERDEEN boss Jimmy Calderwood last night claimed the sale of Christophe Berra could have destroyed Hearts' European dream.

The former Tynecastle captain sealed a £2.3million move to Championship leaders Wolves last month but Calderwood reckons his departure may have ruled Hearts out of the race for third spot in the SPL and a return to Europe.

Hearts boss Csaba Laszlo took a swipe at his board for their failure to bring in a replacement for Berra and with Marius Zaliukas starting a fourgame ban, Calderwood is backing his players to take full advantage - beginning with tomorrow's trip to the capital.

He said: "When you lose your captain and cannot replace him it is extremely hard.

"But when a club offers the money that Berra went for, every club outwith Celtic is going to have to accept it.

"Nevertheless you still expect to get the chance to replace such an important player and Berra's departure is a massive loss for Hearts.

"Before Hearts forced us to play long and both central defenders usually dominated in the air.

"Zaliukas was very important for them as well so he will be missed. We'll just have to wait and see which players come in but they will be keen to prove themselves."

Calderwood admitted the next week could make or break the Dons' campaign.

Third-spot rivals Hearts and Dundee United are next up in the SPL with a Homecoming Scottish Cup tie against East Fife bang in the middle.

He added: "If we can win the next two league games and the cup tie we will give ourselves a great chance of getting to where we want to be.

"But if we lose all three it will be an absolute disaster."

Taken from the Daily Record