Larry Kingston must do well for Hearts before cup trip

Published on Saturday 5 December 2009 09:42

LARRY KINGSTON must do himself justice in a Hearts shirt throughout December if he wants to play in next month's African Cup of Nations with the club's blessing, according to manager Csaba Laszlo.

Although powerless to prevent Kingston joining up with Ghana due to FIFA rules, Laszlo is determined that the midfielder should reach top form in Scotland before departing for the tournament in Angola, which begins on 10 January.

Miloslav Rajevac, national coach of Ghana, is certain to name Kingston in his squad and deprive Hearts of one of their most experienced players for anything up to a month.

The 29-year-old has started only one domestic match this season and Laszlo believes he must first show his commitment to Hearts to ensure he departs on good terms.

"Larry is training well but this is another big problem that will come over us," said the Hungarian. "I tried to talk with Larry. The African Cup of Nations begins in January and he will be a candidate for Ghana. If he shows a good performance he can help his team, but I think he knows he must show that he would like to help us. I don't say we don't want to let him go to the African Cup of Nations but we must find a good solution.

"We are happy if a player can go to play for his country but we must look after the interests of the club and you must find a good balance.

"There is the FIFA rule and you don't have power over this.

"I will tell to Larry before he goes to the African Cup of Nations that he must find his way back into the team. We will give him the possibility and we will see if he brings a good performance or not.

Laszlo also spoke about the possibility of losing players in January with majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov keen to recoup transfer fees.

"Here, we have a lot of dreamers," Laszlo continued. "You know why? You don't know if if you'll sell a player or not. If you don't have a buyer, you can't sell anybody.

"You can put up one, two, three, four, five, six, seven players for 3million, 5million, 8million, 20million. But if nobody gives the money and nobody has the interest, this is just on paper. This only fiction."