Hearts man warns Falkirk must be dealt with

The Tynecastle side are currently missing Lee Wallace and Marius Zaliukas from their line-up because of a combination of injury and problems over a new contract for the latter.

In their absence, Bouzid has had to play alongside the likes of Eggert Jonsson and Ruben Palazuelos as temporary stop-gaps at left-back, while new boy Darren Barr is still settling into the side at centre-half.

The Algerian acknowledged that it has been a time of change and adjustment in the Hearts defence and stressed that he and his team-mates must focus for the full 90 minutes if they are to put one over on the Bairns in the third round of the CIS Insurance Cup.

He said: "It is not easy because if there are some changes every week you have to try to get used to who you are playing beside. But we have had some injuries and we have had some suspensions and this is sometimes what has to happen in football and we have to make the most of it.

"We all have a job to do, we are all professionals and it is up to us to make sure that we are ready and that we are prepared for every game.

"We have all spoken with one another about the situation and what needs to be done to make sure that we get it right.

"We need to be together and if something happens, like it did against Inverness at the weekend, then we have to make sure that we all stay like a team, work hard and make sure that we get the right result for Hearts."

Bouzid and Co were given a fright in the first half against Inverness at the weekend as the home side took the lead through Eric Odhiambo after 37 minutes.

However Hearts fought back with a leveller before the break - although the goal came off the boot of Caley defender Chris Innes - and secured victory with second-half strikes from Ryan Stevenson and Calum Elliot.

While the big defender was delighted with Hearts' reaction to losing the opener, he is determined to avoid the same thing happening tonight.

He knows that Falkirk, who were relegated from the top flight at the end of last season, will feel that they have got a point to prove against their SPL opponents and continued: "It is good for us to have another game so quickly and if we can get another win then it can be good for our confidence

"We know that it will not be an easy game and that we have to be ready for Falkirk. I know all about them and I think they will want to show that they should come straight back up. We are the SPL team and they will probably have big motivation to try to beat us but we have to do everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen."

Bouzid felt that it was important for Hearts to bounce back in the league against Inverness at the weekend, following the disappointment of defeat to Celtic the week before. And he insisted that the Jambos can get many more points under their belt this season if they can maintain their positive approach to games and continue to give 100 per cent on the field. He said: "The travelling was not easy and neither was the game, so we were just delighted to come away with all three points. It was important for the team after losing against Celtic, we knew that we had to change some things and make sure we won the game. When you lose the first goal it can be difficult to get back in the game because your confidence takes a bit of a knock but you have to just keep going, working hard and giving it 100 per cent to try to get the breakthrough for yourself and fortunately we managed to do that.

"We all worked together for one another and we kept a positive attitude, we believed in ourselves and when you think like that it can make a difference.

"I think that we did well to get ourselves back into the game, especially scoring before half-time, I think that was important for us.

"The manager told us at half time to keep going and to keep being positive. Sometimes in football you can find yourself a goal down but you will always get more chances come your way. I thought that the second half was much better for us and that we played well as a team and I think we showed how well we can play when we work hard like that. It was not an easy game, you cannot relax for one minute because they have got very good players and you have to be ready for them.

"I am very happy because I think that a lot of teams will come to Inverness this season and drop points, it is a very difficult ground to play at because of the conditions and the way that they play.

"I think getting the win has been good for our confidence after losing to Celtic last weekend and I think that can be very important for us."

During the 90 minutes Hearts supporters felt that they should have had two penalty kicks, the first when Kevin Kyle's shirt was almost pulled off by Innes, and the second when the same man brought Elliot down in the area Bouzid conceded that he too thought that referee Iain Brines had been wrong to wave their claims away but, having turned the match around in their favour, admitted that he was just happy to have brought all three points back down the road.

He added: "I think that we could maybe have had one or even two penalties but even referees miss some things sometimes and to be honest everyone has forgotten about those things because we went on to win the game."If the game had finished 1-1 or we had lost then, yes, we would probably look at those things more, but for now we are just happy to have won the game."