Paksi coach unhappy over Jim Jefferies sacking

PAKSI coach Karoly Kis was disappointed to see Jim Jefferies lose his job as Hearts manager, although he admits it could hand his team a Europa League advantage.

Jefferies was replaced by former Sporting Lisbon coach Paulo Sergio three days before the second leg of their third qualifying round tie, following last week's 1-1 draw in Hungary.

But Kis was upset for Jefferies after being impressed by the Scot when they met last Thursday.

Kis, speaking at Tynecastle last night, said: "I was surprised and I'm a little bit unhappy because I spoke before and after the match with Mr Jefferies and I have a lot of respect for him. I hope he gets a new team soon."

When asked if the change had benefited his side ahead of tonight's return match, he said: "We will see. Sometimes if a team has a new coach it's motivation for the players.

"Players must give their all to stay in the team. Other players who were not in the team need to give their all to get in the team.

"Sometimes it's a problem, the new coach doesn't have enough information about the team in two or three days."

Despite his side needing to score, Kis hinted they would start cautiously against Hearts. The Hungarian side upset the odds in the previous round following a 1-1 draw against Tromso when they triumphed 3-0 in Norway, scoring all of their goals in 18 second-half minutes.

And Kis, whose team played their home leg in front of around 2,000 fans, warned they were accustomed to belying their underdog status.

"We hear there will be 15-16,000 spectators," Kis said. "A year and a half ago we were in last position in Hungary. Now we are here. We dreamed we would play one big match against a big team in the Europa League.

"We love British football, myself and some of my players love Scottish football.

"But we are not tourists. We have come to Scotland to play football and to get into the play-offs."