Football: Striker Velicka Just Sits On Defence

Nov 4 2007 By Euan Mclean

SURE-SHOT Andrius Velicka underlined his class as a striker with two cracking goals to dump Celtic out of the CIS Cup in midweek.

But judging by his performance for reporters after Wednesday's game the Hearts hitman is equally adept at defensive displays on a par with Willie Miller in his prime.

More guarded than the Crown Jewels. About as easy to approach as the north face of the Eiger.

And all we asked was how he felt when he missed the first Edinburgh derby of the season because he was back in Lithuania, seemingly with his Jambos career in tatters.

At the time, word emanating from Tynecastle was that Andrius was surplus to requirements - despite being the team's top scorer.

Instead, just days after Hearts' 1-0 derby defeat on the opening day of the season, the 28-year-old was back with assistant boss Stevie Frail claiming his absence was due to registration problems over his loan move from Kaunas.

The matter still remains clouded and Velicka was in no mood to clarify the situation ahead of today's Edinburgh derby.

Maybe that's understandable as he still doesn't have the security of a permanent deal at Hearts - he returned to Scotland in August with his loan from Kaunas extended for just another year.

Under the Hearts regime a careless word can be costly and after Velicka's midweek heroics staked a strong claim for a rare starting slot against Hibs at Easter Road today, he is clearly in no mood to jeopardise his position.

Andrius said: "I saw the first game against Hibs but don't remember if I was in Lithuania at the time. Can we talk about Sunday's game?"

Not knowing which country you were in when the season kicked off sounded a bit fishy and when pressed further his interpreter summed up the awkwardness by observing: "I don't think he wants to tell you anything."

So where Velicka stands in Vladimir Romanov's grand scheme remains a mystery, probably just as much for the player as the rest of us.

But his immediate future should at least be in today's starting lineup, having surprisingly made the first 11 just four times this season.

Velicka said: "Of course I want to play all the time as it is far more difficult being on the bench than on the pitch. But it is up to the coaches who plays and when because they think in other, more tactical terms."

Andrius has come off the bench to score in three games for Hearts this season but Jambos coach Frail insists he doesn't view the striker as a supersub

Frail acknowledges that having a forward capable of coming on late to make a quick impact as defenders are tiring is a devastating weapon.

But he reckons it would be unfair on Velicka to make him a perennial supersub. Frail said: "You can see just how dangerous he is when he comes off the bench like that.

"He did it this week against Celtic and last season at Easter Road. But it can be a double edged sword. You saw it with David Fairclough at Liverpool and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Man United - good players tagged as supersubs.

"It's unfair and won't happen every week to Andrius."