Mulraney targets Europa League after goalscoring return

JAKE MULRANEY, the Hearts winger, was forced to pop a couple of pills prior to completing his miraculous return to action on Saturday.

However, their efficacy paled in comparison to the pain-killing power of rippling the net in a breathless 5-2 win over St Mirren.

The Irish winger was ruled out for six weeks just three weeks ago after suffering strained ankle ligaments in Hearts’ 1-1 draw against Rangers.

The sight of Mulraney returning to training during the Jambos’ trip to St Andrews in midweek raised eyebrows, his inclusion on the bench against the Buddies was remarkable and the fact he entered the fray to complete the scoring with a sumptuous curling effort was astonishing.

“I am back a few weeks early,” he conceded. “I’m still in a bit of pain, to be honest. I had to take some tablets before going on but it’s not too bad.

“I think the ligaments are okay now, it’s just about building strength and getting through a bit of pain.

“But that goal is definitely better than a painkiller.”

Mulraney’s shock comeback was just one of a trio of major fitness fillips for Hearts.

Jamie Walker and Steven Naismith were named in the starting line-up for the first time since August after toiling with a broken fibula and persistent hamstring complaint, respectively.

And it was Naismith who opened the scoring after six minutes with a deft flick from an Andy Irving corner-kick, before embarking on a performance of technical quality, tireless work ethic and leadership.

“Naisy’s presence on the pitch is unbelievable,” lauded Mulraney. “Just look at him. He’s always talking people through games, egging people on, passing on information.

“It’s massive, especially for the young boys – and we have a lot of those in the team.

“He was at the very top so his standards are way up there. That’s what he wants from us.”

Or, as St Mirren boss Jim Goodwin succinctly put it, ‘a Hearts team with Steven Naismith in it are a different kettle of fish altogether’.

The Buddies did level through a neatly worked Jon Obika strike before an unfortunate own goal by Sean McLaughlin restored the Jambos’ lead. The sides then exchanged Danny Mullen and Ollie Bozanic efforts as the hosts went in at the break with a 3-2 lead.

If these relegation six-pointers are supposed to be fraught, tight affairs then nobody thought to inform the respective dugouts.

Hearts turned the screw after the break as a glancing Walker header and Mulraney’s wonderful drive from distance secured a pivotal three points.

Five goals in the league for the first time since August, a maiden home win in the Premiership in seven months and a swashbuckling, caution-to-the-wind style. This could not have been further from the latter days of the Craig Levein era.

“It was a little bit more structural, if that makes sense,” Mulraney said of Austin MacPhee’s impact since taking the reins as interim head coach.

“We knew what we had to do, we worked on it the whole week and had loads of meetings. We were really clear on what we had to do.”

MacPhee wasted no time in looking up the table, claiming that, with 13 points separating Hearts and Aberdeen, Europa League football should still be an ambitious target for the club – regardless of the individuals who ultimately take the roles of sporting director and head coach.

“The boys definitely agree with that,” added Mulraney. “We should be aiming for the Europa League.

“You could see on Saturday that we have got the quality to do it - we just have to do it over and over again.”

In sharp contrast, St Mirren boss Goodwin was visibly shell-shocked by an uncharacteristically porous showing from his side.

Prior to arriving in Gorgie, the visitors had not conceded more than two goals in a league match this season. While hardly the most fluent going forward, they are nothing if not resilient.

However, that stability was shot to pieces during a chastening 90 minutes in the capital, leaving the Paisley outfit two points adrift at the foot of the table.

“I’m gutted for the supporters who came through in great numbers,” he rued. “I’m disappointed that they had to witness that. We owe them a performance in a couple of weeks against Ross County.

“Our home form is excellent and we’ve got a few home games coming up so we have to take advantage.”

ALAN POWER smiled at the lighthearted suggestion that Kilmarnock could do worse than bring Kris Boyd out of retirement.

“I see he’s been working out quite hard so maybe we can recall him,” said the Irishman, not entirely seriously.

Boyd in his prime, though, was the sort of player Killie could have done with during Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Hamilton. With their visitors down to 10 men, Angelo Alessio’s side spent the last 40 minutes or so trying in vain to break them down.

With Osman Sow injured and recent recruit Simeon Jackson yet to make an impact, all the pressure is on Eamonn Brophy to provide those goals.

He delivered again in this contest with a fine volley to haul his side level – after Killie had fallen two goals behind prior to Sam Stubbs’ red card – and tried diligently to also come up with a winner.

Power praised his team-mate’s contribution but acknowledged he needs help. “I’m delighted for Eamonn getting his goal,” said the midfielder.

“That will be a boost for him but we have to help him out and pitch in. We have to try and get him some more goals with deliveries and get him in and around the box more.

“There is a lot of responsibility on Eamonn’s shoulders just now and that has been the case for quite a while this season. It’s something we can work on during the international break and hopefully we can come back firing.”

Mickel Miller was another to get on the scoresheet on Saturday, setting the tone for an eventful afternoon with a thunderous 30-yard half-volley after just two minutes.

It was just his second goal of an interrupted season but hopes it can provide a platform for further success.

“It’s been a frustrating season for me with injuries so it’s nice now to have a run in the team,” said the Londoner. “I had an ankle injury at the start of the campaign and, earlier in the year, I dislocated my shoulder, which was annoying mentally because I’d never had problems like that before.

“Fortunately, it’s all behind me now. I’ve been working hard on the training ground and now it’s starting to show on the pitch. It was just nice to get another goal.”

RYAN HEDGES, the Wales international, is convinced Aberdeen’s reaction to a second Old Firm mauling proves they are back on track in the Premiership – and ready to sustain a challenge.

A 5-0 thrashing by Rangers in late September shook the Dons, who could only draw with Hibs in the aftermath before a fine win at Motherwell.

The manner of Celtic’s four-goal

first-half filleting at Pittodrie late last month then brought fresh shudders to the club and its supporters, suggesting a growing gulf between them and the big two.

Despite those crushing blows, victories over Hamilton, Kilmarnock and now Ross County have pointed to a resilience in Aberdeen’s ranks, sending them into the international break with replenished optimism.

For Hedges, again scorer against Ross County in his team’s second triumph over the Highlanders, it has been the perfect reaction to the Celtic setback.

Victory brought the first hat-trick of consecutive wins for Derek McInnes and his team this season.

“To get three wins in a row is great,” the 24-year-old former Everton and Swansea City youth said. “On the back of the Celtic game the gaffer targeted nine points out of nine and thankfully that is what we have delivered.

“We are going into the international break full of confidence and with our heads held high. It will give us something to build on when we get back.

“The Celtic game was a sore one but you can only pick yourself up and go again and that is what we have done. Our performances and seven goals in three games is something we can build on and look to push on from.”

CHRISTIAN DOIDGE insists Hibernian were not far away from success under Paul Heckingbottom but believes the changes made by Eddie May were key to a first Ladbrokes Premiership victory in three months.

May, the club’s head of player development, was placed in temporary charge following Heckingbottom’s sacking a week ago.

And he got an instant response as Doidge scored a hat-trick, his first league goals for the club, and Scott Allan also netted in a 4-1 win at St Johnstone.

Stevie May grabbed a late consolation for Saints in the 90th minute but the day belonged to Hibs as they arrested a run of five consecutive league draws with a badly-needed win.

Doidge said: “Eddie [May] was really supportive all week and it’s been a fun week. I think that showed in our performance, the boys went out there and really gave it a good go.

“I think the shape helped us, with me and Flo [Kamberi] playing up front together. I thought he was fantastic and unfortunately he didn’t get his goal.

“But he set me up twice, which was nice. Also, getting the best out of Scott Allan, playing in the 10. He’s probably one of the best in the league in that position.

“Drawing games of football is hard to take, especially when we’ve been in winning positions.

“The pressure got to us in the last couple of games, where we’ve conceded a couple. But I really think we weren’t far away, at all, from winning well.”

IT might feel like a drop in the ocean given the waves of despondency that have threatened to drown Partick Thistle this season but Shea Gordon is confident Saturday’s win can offer something of a lifebelt for the Maryhill club.

The three points taken from a battling, gritty win against Morton wasn’t entirely sufficient in steering Thistle out of troubled waters – they remain stuck at the foot of the Championship – but this first home league win of the season has been seen as a stepping stone to breathing space.

There are just two points now between Thistle and fellow strugglers Morton with Northern Irish under-21 midfielder Gordon confident that Ian McCall’s side can get themselves to safety.

Gordon was the hero of the hour on Saturday, coming off the bench to score with his first touch after just 15 seconds and then putting Thistle back in front after Jack Baird had pulled a goal back for the Greenock side.

And while the table illustrates just how much work there is to do still the weekend win can be the catalyst for an upwards climb, according to Gordon.

“I feel like it’s a turning point in our season,” said the midfielder who is off on international duty with the Northern Ireland under21 squad this week. “It can get our season going after a tough start. I’m hoping we’ll look back on this game as the one that kick-started us.

“We’ve produced some good results on the road but we’ve had some tough results too so to finally win at home is massive for us.

“I think if we play as we did on Saturday then we can start moving up the table. It was more than three points for us.

“We had been thinking about the game all week. We were desperate to get out there and get the place rocking with the fans behind us after the big disappointment at Ayr the previous week.

“We knew how important it was and hopefully it can give us momentum before Christmas.”

Stuart Bannigan’s red card just eight minutes after the break meant that the Thistle midfielder was particularly appreciative of

Gordon’s goalscoring exploits.

“He was gutted and he apologised to the boys,” said Gordon. “It’s not part of his game so he was quite down but we have won the game so that was the main thing.”

If there was a glimmer of hope for Thistle at the weekend, Morton have found themselves being sucked towards the darkness at the bottom.

And defender Baird, on loan from St Mirren, has warned that coping with the mental challenge of being bogged down in that environment is vital to survival. Morton have not won a league game away from home this season, a fact that has been instrumental in their lowly placing.

“These things get brought up all the time,” said Baird.

“I have had one before at a previous club and it was the opposite – we couldn’t win at home. The less you think about it in your head the less of a problem it becomes.

“We have had a few good opportunities to get that monkey off our back but we haven’t taken it. It would be different if we weren’t a good team. We are a really good team. Some of the best players I have ever played with are in this team.

“So no-one is stressing out about it. We do need to take a look at ourselves and then take it step by step. It is a home game and a chance to bounce back at the weekend. We are strong at home so we are not panicking.”

DUNDEE United forward Louis Appere has backed Lawrence Shankland to hit more than 50 goals this season.

Shankland, with Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad this week, hit his 20th of the season in Friday night’s Tayside derby as United extended their lead at the top of the table.

And Appere fully expects the 24-year-old to keep up his form in front of goal after hitting the ground running at Tannadice.

“Can he get 50?” asked Appere. “I don’t see why not because of the rate he’s scoring at. If he stays in the form he’s in then who knows what he’s capable of. He is a really good goalscorer but it’s unfair to just think of him like that, he’s got really good hold up play as well.

“He brings people into the game and is intelligent, but when you score as many as he does it’s no wonder people just focus on the goals!”

HIS presence in the starting line-up didn’t prevent Scotland from crashing to a calamitous 3-0 defeat in their opening Euro 2020 qualifier against Kazakhstan in Nursultan way back in March.

Nor was he able to stop mighty Belgium from running amok in Brussels in June and winning by the same sorry scoreline.

But could the return of Scott McKenna help the national team to finish what has been a thoroughly disheartening Group I campaign on a high by winning against Cyprus in Nicosia this Saturday and then Kazakhstan in Glasgow three days later and finishing third in their section?

More importantly, can the Aberdeen player blossom into the reliable centre-half which the country has so desperately needed for so many years and help them to secure a place in the Euro 2020 finals through the play-offs in March?

So much has been expected of the young man from Kirriemuir since he suddenly, after fairly unremarkable loan spells at Ayr United and Alloa in the second and third tiers, established himself in the first team at Pittodrie two seasons ago, made his Scotland debut and, briefly, donned the captain’s armband.

Here at last, the eternal optimists among the Tartan Army predicted optimistically, was a lad who could excel in what had long been a problem position and, what is more, do so for many years to come.

But since making his bow in that 1-0 defeat to Costa Rica in March last year, McKenna has won a further 11 caps without ever quite justifying the huge hype which has surrounded him or living up to the high hopes that so many have of him.

Yes, he featured in the Nations League wins over Albania away and Israel at home last November which ensured Scotland had the Euro 2020 play-offs to fall back on if, as has turned out to be the case, they were unable to finish above

Belgium and Russia in their qualifying section and progress automatically.

However, at no stage has he ever really looked like a worthy successor to the likes of Richard Gough, Alan Hansen, Colin Hendry, Alex McLeish – the manager who first selected him – Willie Miller, David Narey or Davie Weir. He had an off night in Kazakhstan. He looked hopelessly out of his depth against the worldclass forwards of Belgium.

It is, though, worth remembering the 6ft 3in defender only turns 23 tomorrow. Some great Scotland players in the past took a while to adapt to the particular demands of the international game and perform at their very best. There is still, then, plenty of time for him to come good.

How Steve Clarke could do with McKenna, who he recalled to his squad for this double-header last week after the Dons player recovered from the hamstring injury that sidelined him for six weeks, fulfilling his potential.

He has selected Liam Cooper, Mikey Devlin, Stuart Findlay, McKenna and Charlie Mulgrew at centre-back since being appointed in May. His side has shipped 14 goals in six games. They have kept just one clean sheet, against minnows San Marino at Hampden last month. A stark and rapid improvement at the back is required if they are to end a wait to reach a major tournament that stretches back to France ’98 next year.

That was obvious once again in Moscow last month. Clarke’s men performed well for almost an hour of the match and restricted Russia to just one shot on target which goalkeeper David Marshall dealt with comfortably. Then their old failings resurfaced, Artem Dzyuba ran riot against Devlin and

Mulgrew and the home team netted four times with some ease.

A centre-half who is good in the air, reads the game well, doesn’t get caught out of position, can cope with a fast and physical striker on the ground and is an accurate passer of the ball would be an absolute godsend. The new Franco Baresi isn’t required, just somebody who is dependable.

McKenna’s considerable promise has led to Celtic, Aston Villa, Queens Park Rangers and Nottingham Forest tabling sizable bids, all of which Aberdeen have rejected, in the past 16 months. If he can start to play like the multimillion pound footballer that some shrewd judges clearly believe him to be then Scotland will benefit greatly.

This hasn’t been an especially good season for McKenna so far; he caused controversy when he handed in a transfer request back in August amid interest from down south, spent over a month out and then struggled as Celtic scored four goals in 45 minutes at Pittodrie last month.

That said, he has been instrumental in Derek McInnes’s side bouncing back from that mauling by Neil Lennon’s team with three consecutive victories and

was on target for the first time this term in their 3-0 triumph over Kilmarnock nine days ago.

With Findlay and Mulgrew both out of the Cyprus and Kazakhstan games with hamstring injuries and David Bates still unavailable, he has a decent chance of reclaiming his place in the Scotland side. It is high time the experience which he gained at an early age under McLeish began to pay dividends.

Not having a decent centre-half cost Gordon Strachan and McLeish dear and it is hard to see how Clarke, for all his ambition, ideas and strengths, can avoid the same fate as his predecessors, and reach the Euro 2020 finals, without one.

HIBERNIAN followed Hearts’ lead last week by sacking their manager Paul Heckingbottom after a disappointing run of form and heavy Betfred Cup semi-final defeat to Celtic. What happened in their first game after his departure? Christian Doidge, the summer signing who had let Heckingbottom down so badly, nets a hat-trick in a 4-1 win over St Johnstone. Who would be a football manager?

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