Former Hearts target McLean vows to show Romanov his true value after snub

Vladimir Romanov said MacLean's services were not required by Hearts and Laszlo had to admit defeat in his attempts to sign the 27-year-old on loan from Plymouth Argyle, before being sacked as manager in late January. Ironically, part of the club's case for dismissing the Hungarian centred around his public endorsement of MacLean and Izale McLeod, another striker on trial at the time.

"I do not see anything except publicity for those players. Maybe Csaba Laszlo decided they needed a PR manager. I am not convinced we need them," said Romanov, as the players arrived in Edinburgh.

MacLean has maintained a dignified silence on the entire issue but today spoke for the first time about Romanov's comments and the bizarre circumstances which saw the Tynecastle hierarchy refuse to sanction his move from Plymouth despite Laszlo's recommendation.

He faces Hearts on Saturday for the first time since leaving Riccarton at the end of December with his future in the balance. He admits seeing the deal collapse was difficult to bear but is not the type to pursue revenge. That said, he would derive a degree of satisfaction from proving Romanov wrong.

"At the end of the day he can say what he wants. I've come on loan to Aberdeen and hopefully I can prove that I am good enough. I'm sure I will by scoring some goals," said MacLean, who has struck three times in six appearances for his new club. "He (Romanov] is entitled to his opinion and he can say what he likes, but I know myself what I'm capable of.

"It was strange because it was well noticed that Hearts wanted to sign me, but it just wasn't happening. I came up, did my bit and did well when I was there. It was quite tough to take but you just never know what's going on at Hearts. I was in the dark so I just got my head down and what was going to be was going to be."

Asked if he believed Laszlo wanted to sign him but could not secure permission from above, MacLean replied: "Yes, as far as I'm aware I think so but to be honest I wasn't too sure what was going on. I didn't know what was happening behind the scenes."

The forward's brief insight into the abilities of Marius Zaliukas and other Hearts defenders during that training stint may prove useful for Saturday's lunchtime kick-off.

"You could say it would do but matches are different from training," he noted. "I just try and approach every game the same way, I don't think this will be any different just because it's Hearts. Obviously I was up there at Christmas time but things didn't happen. I want to do well for Aberdeen now and score goals."

That would indeed be rather handy given the predicament manager Mark McGhee currently finds himself in. He must lift spirits sufficiently to overcome the deflation of losing to Raith Rovers in a Scottish Cup replay last midweek and to Falkirk at Westfield on Saturday.

Hearts will arrive at Pittodrie on the back of two consecutive victories, however new manager Jim Jefferies will be mindful that the teams' last encounter produced a resounding 3-0 triumph for Aberdeen at Tynecastle in Laszlo's last match in charge.

"They (Hearts] have a new manager and seem to have taken a bit of a lift," continued MacLean. "They're coming off the back of two good results so I'm sure Hearts will come into the game full of confidence and flying. They will want to put one over on us but it's up to us to continue where we left off from the last result against them and try to take two or three off them again.

"We're due a performance for everybody up here. We need a result on Saturday to put things right. We haven't played well in the last couple of games and we owe everybody a performance. It was quite obvious that, not just the manager, but everybody was disappointed after Saturday against Falkirk. We had a frank discussion which is good for getting things sorted out. What was said will stay in the dressing room and hopefully help us go forward and get a result at the weekend.

"We got draws against Celtic and Hibs recently which could really have been two wins. Since then we've had two bad results so we need to look to hit back against Hearts."

The long-term future remains unclear for Edinburgh-born MacLean. He must return to Plymouth in June upon the completion of his short-term loan but is not wanted at Home Park despite still having 16 months left on his contract. A goal against Hibs and two in a man-of-the-match display against Celtic indicate he has the proficiency to succeed in the SPL. But will he get the chance?

"I'm happy up at Aberdeen now and just looking forward to getting on with my football and getting some game time," he said. "We'll see what happens after that. Come the summer, I'll have a year left on my deal at Plymouth so I'm just going to wait and see what happens. I came up here so Aberdeen can have a look at me and I can have a look at them. At the end of the season I have to sit down with my agent and see what's best for myself and my family and go from there.

"I've had six games up here so far and I've had my ups and downs. I'd have liked the results to be better. I've had a couple of good performances but also a couple I haven't been happy with. I'm just looking to keep scoring goals and hopefully we can start winning games.

"The SPL teams are quite close and anyone can beat anyone up here on any given day. If you're not on top of your game teams will turn you over no matter where they are in the league. It's a decent standard of football."

Which is why he was keen to return to his homeland after spending most of his career in England. Tynecastle, not Pittodrie, was his intended destination. It must be hoped Romanov is not forced to rue the day he allowed Steven MacLean to slip from his grasp.