Brave Hearts

Hearts manager John McGlynn was a very proud man as his side battled until the last second to earn a well-deserved draw in today's Clydesdale Bank Premier League encounter in Inverness.

The Caley Jags took an early lead through Owain Tudor-Jones' long range effort, but it took until the 90th minute for Hearts to finally batter down the Inverness defence. Marius Zaliukas - celebrating his 29th birthday today - stepped up to the plate and coolly converted a penalty after Callum Paterson had been fouled.
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Speaking after the match at a bitterly cold Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, John revealed his pride in the spirit and character his players had shown after a testing week.

"I'm very proud of their resolve. We turned it around the second half, we denied Inverness a lot of chances. We dominated the second period and I thought the goal wouldn't come, but Marius has stepped up brilliantly and given us a well earned point".

As much of the focus has been on off-field issues, the onus was on the players to try and raise spirits, and despite not getting all three points, their commitment to the club could certainly not be faulted.

"The players will have commitments in the financial sense, and to their families but they fought for the jersey and the club today", said the gaffer.

"We go into games looking for three points but we'll take one after the week we've had."

Finally, John had a special word of thanks for the magnificent Hearts support who have backed their team in quite incredible ways over the past week, with ticket sales through the roof and uptake of the Share Offer progressing nicely.

Despite this, however, the manager issued a warning that there was another hard week to come and that the supporters' backing would be required more than ever in days to come.

"The fans have rallied round us and we're so grateful for that. Hopefully it continues but we're not out of the woods yet. If anyone can continue to support us, we'd appreciate it massively."

Hearts World