Published Date:
27 August 2009
By COLLEEN PATERSON
JANOS
BALOGH knows Hearts might not be able to overturn their four-goal
deficit against Dinamo Zagreb tonight but the big goalkeeper is certain
that they can at least win back some pride.
The
Tynecastle side play host to the Croatians this evening in the second
leg of their play-off for a place in the Europa League.
They trail heavily from the first leg which was played out in Zagreb last week and, barring a miracle, now have no hope of progressing to the group stages of the competition.
Despite
being labelled a meaningless match in some quarters, Balogh insists
that the tie is now of huge importance because a victory is vital if he
and his team-mates are to restore some confidence and self-belief back
into the side.
Goals from the impressive Mario Mandzukic,
Dimitrios Papadopoulos, Ivica Vrdoljak and former Liverpool player Igor
Biscan saw Hearts capitulate in the Maksimir Stadium last week but
Balogh has promised supporters that he will do everything in his power
to ensure a positive result tonight.
Balogh, who had to settle
for a place on the bench in Zagreb, knows that Hearts face an uphill
task simply to keep the free-scoring Croats at bay.
But he said:
"Last week we lost the game very heavily to Zagreb and
they were
definitely the better team. Tonight is another day though, and we must
try to get a better result this time around. We will certainly work
hard for it.
"We always try to do our best but maybe we are not in the best of form right now.
"We will try everything because we want to get some pride back, all we can do is our best.
"I
think that we can get a good result at Tynecastle but I cannot promise
our fans that we will go out and win 5-0 to progress to the next round.
It is a very difficult mission, we have made it difficult for ourselves
and we just have to get on with it.
"Zagreb are a very good team
with quality players.
If we win or
draw then I think that will be seen
as a good result and will help us to have some confidence back.
"We
might not beat Zagreb over the whole tie but it is very important that
we go some way to restoring our pride, we don't want to lose face again.
"A win would give us more confidence because I think that definitely took a knock when we were over in Croatia.
"There
is a lot of pride in the players and in the club and everyone has been
hurting after the European result. We will do everything we can to make
sure that we win tonight."
Balogh is likely to be preferred to
Marian Kello between the sticks tonight, having been brought back into
the side by Laszlo after the 4-0 defeat in Zagreb to face Rangers at
the weekend.
The Hungarian admitted his frustration at being
left out of the team at a time when they are struggling to get their
first win of the season under their belts but is keen to make the most
of the recent chance that he has been given.
He added: "I did
not play in the first leg of the tie and that was the manager's
decision. As a goalkeeper you know that there is only one place in the
team and if you are not the one that is picked then you must sit the
game out, either on the bench or in the stand. As a goalkeeper,
everyone understands that.
"It is not the best situation when
you do not play and it is frustrating when the team is losing and there
is nothing you can do about it. You must just wait for your chance and
hope that it comes sooner, rather than later.
"When it does come
though, you must show that you are ready. It is good sometimes - and
when you are not playing it is not so good!
"Having competition
is good because maybe you relax a little bit if you don't have any. You
know right now that if you make a mistake that you could be out of the
side
"I want to stay in goal now that I have been brought back
in, I want to be back out there playing in front of the Hearts fans
again."
Laszlo lost a number of influential players in the
summer, Bruno Aguiar, Christos Karipidis and Robbie Neilson among them,
and has been told that he will not be given funding for a much-needed
new striker to bolster his options in attack.
Balogh has been as
frustrated as the club's supporters by the recent run of poor results
which have hit their side but is urging those who back the team to be
patient as the players struggle to gel with one another as a team.
He
added: "We have lost a lot of players and we have also signed a lot of
players and now everyone needs to get used to how the others play.
"I think the team right now have maybe not had the best of results but they are playing more and more games together every week.
"The
more games that we all play together, the more everyone will get to
know one another and to gel and come together as players.
"I
think we must change a few things, I don't know exactly what and that
is not really a matter for me, that is for the manager to decide. The
last eight games or so – if you include pre-season – have not been so
good for me. We need to get the basics right and then build from there.
"It
is important now that fans get right behind us, sometimes they can be
like a 12th man for us. They make a good atmosphere all the time and I
hope that we can show them that we are not without hope, just that we
have some problems which can be sorted out.
"Maybe we just need a little time."
[uredio blue avalanche - 27. kolovoza 2009. u 12:12]