Novikovas has more to offer Hearts

DESPITE training for only three days beforehand, Arvydas Novikovas returned from injury in Hearts' victory over Falkirk to reinforce theories that he is one of the club's top youth prospects.

A two-month absence due to ankle ligament damage concluded with the Lithuanian winger's reappearance in a 3-2 victory which restored the club's top-six status on manager Jim Jefferies' return to Tynecastle.

Novikovas, 19, was a constant thorn in the visitors' defence and showcased his useful corner- kicking ability with some testing deliveries into the Falkirk penalty area, something Hearts have lacked this season. It was his exquisite left-wing cross from open play which created a 61st-minute goal for Spanish winger Suso Santana, below, one of three Hearts goalscorers in a match for the first time this season.

It says much for Novikovas' natural talent and overall physical condition that he managed to play with confidence for 89 minutes before being replaced by another teenager, Gordon Smith.

Speaking to the Evening News today, he explained his shock at being restored to the starting XI after only three training sessions while underlining his satisfaction at overcoming a troublesome injury.

"Everything is okay now," said Novikovas. "I twisted my ankle and damaged ligaments. That takes two months to come back but I feel okay.

"The physio said I can play and the manager gave me the chance to show what I can do.

"I just went out and played and the injury is fine, I don't feel anything.

"I think I did well in the match. I lost a couple of balls but nothing important. I made crosses, the manager told me to go one against one and I think I did this. He also told me to go inside and shoot.

"The manager said I played well. The fans gave me more confidence so I wasn't scared to go and play.

"I only had three training sessions before the match. I need to train for maybe two weeks and understand things better.

"After the manager said I would be playing, I was very happy but also really surprised.

"It would have been good to start on the bench and I would have been happy with that, but if you play from the start it's better. The manager told me to just go and play my game, don't think about anything else.

"If you lose the ball it's okay, don't think about it. He just wanted me to go and play.

"If I'm wide and I have the ball the manager says always go one against one and then give the delivery.

"I need more confidence to keep playing. I have confidence at the moment after a couple of touches. If I make the wrong pass I need to take more confidence and then I will be okay."

Novikovas faces the prospect of a more established first-team figure, Andy Driver, challenging for his position in the near future.

"When he comes back from injury I don't know what will happen," smiled the Lithuanian.

"I want to make a good impression like everybody when I am in the team.

"I hope the manager can help develop my career and I want to help the team win games."

Saturday revealed much about the approach Hearts are likely to adopt under Jefferies. His strategy, tactics and formation centred around a favoured formula tried and tested for many a season, one certain to imbue the team with plenty attacking impetus.

Jefferies' Hearts side of the late 1990s contained a four-man midfield core of mostly forward-thinking players employed with specific tasks. Two wide midfielders (Thomas Flogel and Neil McCann] had licence to attack and deliver crosses into the box, safe in the knowledge that those in the centre (Steve Fulton and Colin Cameron] were the industrious hub of the side.

Fast forward a decade to Saturday and supporters again saw two wide midfielders (Novikovas and Suso] complemented by a hard-working central pairing of Ryan Stevenson and Ian Black. Similarly, for the aerial presence of Jim Hamilton in the 90s, read David Obua on Saturday.

The personnel may be different but the manager's philosophy remains the same.

"The way we wanted to play was with Obua up front and natural width through Suso and Novikovas," said Jefferies.

"The young boy is a naturally left sided guy and he's got great delivery. It was nice to see Novikovas back involved. We haven't been scoring goals so we were looking to see if he could come up with some of his skills."

Had the Hearts management not been restricted in terms of options on the substitutes' bench, Novikovas would have found himself withdrawn as a precaution early in the second half before he supplied the cross for Suso's goal.

"The lad's been out for seven or eight weeks," continued Jefferies.

"He produced a great ball for the second goal, but had we done the right thing and taken him off when we should have, he wouldn't have been there to put that cross in. It worked in our favour. We hadn't planned on playing him for that long.

"We would have preferred to put him on the bench if we had more people available.

"After we went 3-1 up he seemed to get a second wind and I kept him on. When I turned to the bench there were only kids so it wasn't easy to change things.

"Novikovas is still a young boy and he still lacks that wee bit of strength but he does have great delivery and I think he's a great prospect for the future."