Csaba Laszlo predicts bright future for Lee Wallace

Published on Wednesday 18 November 2009 09:20

HEARTS manager Csaba Laszlo today tipped Lee Wallace for a bright future at international level after the left-back emerged as one of the few Scotland players not to blot his copybook in the debacle in Cardiff at the weekend.

The 22-year-old came on as a second-half substitute for Celtic's Danny Fox in the 3-0 defeat by Wales on Saturday and, on a dreadful day for his country, the Hearts man could at least console himself with the fact no further goals were lost during his time on the park.

The Tynecastle defender, who had previously been a regular fixture in the Under-21s, also started last month's friendly against Japan in Yokohama, where he was viewed by many as one of Scotland's most impressive performers.

As recently as two seasons ago, many Hearts fans had doubts about Wallace as he struggled to nail down a regular starting place. But his improvement over the past season and a bit has been remarkable and Laszlo is delighted to see his player's form being recognised.

"It is good for Lee to be getting some recognition at international level and I think that it is a huge confidence boost for him," said the Hearts manager.

"I did not watch the game but I spoke with some people who told me that he did well when he came on, although the match was not so good for Scotland. I think that he can continue to do well for his country if he keeps working hard and training well."

As well as Wallace, Eggert Jonsson and Arvydas Novikovas were involved with their respective Under-21 sides and Laszlo will have to wait until later this week to discover whether his players who were away on international duty have escaped injury.

He will also make a late decision over the fitness of Larry Kingston, who has taken some part in training over the last couple of days after being ruled out in recent weeks by a hamstring problem.

Laszlo said: "At the moment we don't have so many players involved in international duty. Eggert Jonsson was away with Iceland Under-21s, Arvydas Novikovas was also away with the Under-21s and Lee as well.

"Calum Elliot and Larry Kingston are normally involved with their national sides too, so it is important that they can begin normal training again. Larry did some work last Friday with the team and also yesterday but we have to be careful and not take it too fast. At the moment he is working on his fitness but we will have to wait and see what happens for the weekend."

Meanwhile, Tynecastle owner Vladimir Romanov has bizarrely claimed George Burley only got the Scotland job because of the "damage he had done to Hearts".

Despite the fact the deposed national boss led Hearts to the top of the league before his dismissal in 2005, Romanov said: "The time Burley spent at the helm of the national team demonstrated again that Scottish football has no future while it continues to be dominated by the clubs from Glasgow.

"It is not surprising he was sacked – I was shocked when he was hired. He was awarded the Tartan Army boss' position for the damage he had done to Hearts. With him in the driving seat of the national team and with the Old Firm controlling the situation, Scottish football has made another step down in its negative development."