LITHUANIA v SCOTLAND
But when the l ikes of internationals like Edgaras Ja n k au s k a s , Dev ida s Ce snaus k i s and Sau l Mikol iunas settled in at Tynecast le, he quick ly realised they could play.
And since then, the Scotland defender has vowed never to underestimate any player just because he’s never heard of him.
Berra will be on the plane to Vilnius this week with Gordon Strachan’s side for the must-win World Cup qualifier against the Lithuanians.
Despite a 1- 1 draw at Hampden against them, it’s a game everyone in Scotland will expect us to win. Berra himself admits that anything less than three points will see our Russian dream die with three games still to go.
But the Hearts skipper has warned against ignorance. Just because Jankauskas’ side might not contain household names doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous.
Because as Berra points out, punters in Lithuania probably don’t have a clue about some of Scotland’s best players either.
The 32-year-old is expecting an awkward night on Friday as Strachan’s side attempt to keep the campaign alive.
And after working with several Lithuanian players during his first spell in Gorgie – when Vladimir Romanov was ruling the roost – he knows a l l about thei r capabi l ities. Berra told
“These sides are more organised now and tactically aware than they’ve ever been.
“The Lithuanian players have a lot of British traits so they’re really tough to play against. I’ve played with a lot of them in the past at Hearts. They’re strong, fast and technically good.
“We’re in a British football bubble here. We think the only footbal l that exists is in Scotland or England.
“You go to other European countries l i ke Hol land, Belgium, Poland, wherever, there are so many good players of all nationalities.
“But because we don’t hear about them or watch them on TV, we don’t know them.
“It’s a bit of ignorance, really, because at t imes we disrespect and disregard these players. But trust me, they’re just as good as us and technically very g o o d . Wh e n the Lithuanian boys came in at Hearts a few years ago, I quickly realised that they could play.
“Their national team players will all play for good clubs around Europe.
“And let’s be honest, apart from Celtic and Rangers who are known worldwide, if you mention teams like Hearts or Hibs to people in Eastern European countries, they’d think we weren’t big clubs. They wouldn’t know who we were.
“So it’s all relative and you can’t under-estimate these teams. They’re always fit and strong, they can all run.
“Te chn ic a l l y the y ’ re excellent so if you’ve got the basics right and you’re organised, it makes you so difficult to play against.”
With four games left