Sergio names team who can make their point

After losing the first leg 5-0 at Tynecastle – a record defeat for them in a single leg in Europe – Hearts could be in danger of notching up another unwanted statistic at White Hart Lane this evening. The Scottish record for an aggregate loss at present is the 12-4 thrashing Rangers were handed out by Eintracht Frankfurt in the European Cup of 1959-60. Even with Tottenham, too, planning to field an inexperienced side – along with a certain Luka Modric – it is all too easy to foresee them scoring another handful of goals if Hearts display anything like the same faults they showed last week.

Sergio could have opted to play it safe and shut up shop with a team packed with seasoned defenders. Instead, he has named an attacking, relatively inexperienced side, in the hope that some at least will play themselves into his plans for the league campaign.

The defence is arguably the best available to him, but further forward he has omitted Ryan Stevenson – possibly Hearts’ best player of the season to date – as well as his two senior strikers, John Sutton and Stephen Elliott. Gordon Smith will make his first start of the season up front, and should be supported, in a roving role, by Rudi Skacel.

A draw or even a narrow loss would represent vindication for Sergio’s selection – particularly if someone who plays well tonight goes on to take a crucial role in Sunday’s Edinburgh derby. Another heavy defeat, however, would not only go into the record books, it could also put a large indelible stain on the 43-year-old’s coaching career.

As he announced his team last night, however, there was no sign that the prospect concerned Sergio. “Because of the result in the first leg, our goal for the game has changed,” he said. “It is clear that it’s going to be very hard for us to go forward in this competition.

“So in this game I will be playing players who haven’t played so much for us. I will profit from seeing them. I want them to show that they are improving.

“It’s a risk that I’m going to take. But I have to do it. I don’t have time to play friendlies or arrange a pre-season programme. This is what I have to do.

“Always the result matters. The result is always important. But for us, in this match and with the team we’re playing against, it’s not the most important thing after the first leg.”

That record defeat in the first leg came just a matter of weeks after Sergio took over at Tynecastle from Jim Jefferies, but he insisted that he could not be concerned about how his results compared to those of either his immediate predecessors or the Hearts coaches of past eras.

“I want to see what my young players can do. We have something to prove every day we go to work. The past is in the museums. Every day we have to prove our capacities, how much we want to progress. It’s the way I think about my life and my profession. I have no fear of anything. It’s a risk because it’s an important game, a Europa League game. But I have to think about what Hearts need. I shouldn’t be worried about what people will say about Scottish football.

“I don’t want anybody in Scotland to take responsibility for something bad I do at Hearts. It’s all my responsibility.

“Scotland has great football players and very good teams. The result in the first leg was not about Scottish football – it was about me and my team.”

Sergio hopes to strengthen his squad in what remains of the transfer window and, although he refused to name names, he is thought to have an interest in his midfield compatriot Maniche. Tonight, however, in the hope of getting the best out of his squad in the months to come, he has deliberately opted not to make the most of its strengths as it stands.

We will soon find out if that is bravery or mere foolhardiness, but whatever may go wrong tonight, he appears certain of one thing: Hearts cannot play as badly as they did in the opening spell of the first leg, when they were two goals down after a dozen minutes.

“Our challenge is to show that they are able to help Hearts in future,” he said of his selection. “They don’t have to fear. If Spurs put their stronger team on the pitch it’s a risk for us, but in football, in life, we have to take those risks if you want to do what you should do. I think at this moment for Hearts it’s the right thing to do. It’s a great opportunity for them to live a high moment, with a great atmosphere, and they should be motivated and focused.

“I’m sure tomorrow they will be more focused on the game than last Thursday. It’s impossible to do the same first half. We respected our opponents too much. In the second half they gave a different answer.”

That “different answer” would be very welcome again tonight. Provided it is for the whole match this time.