Hearts v AEK Athens
Champions League
Third qualifying round, first leg
Wednesday, 9 August
Murrayfield Stadium
Kick-off: 1945 BST
Hearts striker Edgaras Jankauskas is back in contention for a starting place against AEK Athens after missing three games with a hamstring injury.
However, Scotland midfielder Paul Hartley is still suffering with a groin problem and defender Jose Goncalves is also missing through injury.
Ibrahim Tall damaged knee ligaments at the weekend, so Robbie Nielson should resume at right-back.
Takis Fyssas missed out on Sunday but could return to face his countrymen.
Teenager Lee Wallace played at left-back in the win over Celtic but Hearts may prefer the experience of Greek international Fyssas.
Fellow Greek Hristos Karipidis joined Hearts last week but may have to wait longer for his debut, with Christophe Berra and Steven Pressley starting the season well in central defence.
Hearts 1-2 AEK Athens
Two late goals gave AEK Athens a deserved victory over 10-man Hearts in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier at Murrayfield.
AEK dominated the first half, but Saulius Mikoliunas slid home Hearts' opener in the second after a Roman Bednar drive came back off the post.
Hearts' Bruno Aguiar was sent off for a second yellow card on the hour.
And Pantelis Kapetanos headed home the equaliser before Nikos Liberopoulos' shot deflected in off Christophe Berra.
Hearts had suffered a blow just before the first leg at Murrayfield when midfielders Julien Brellier and Deividas Cesnauskis were ruled out through illness.
So Greek defender Christos Karipidis was drafted into midfield for his debut along with Mikoliunas.
Robbie Neilson replaced the injured Ibrahim Tall at right-back, while Takis Fyssas returned in place of Lee Wallace on the other flank against his countrymen.
AEK have yet to start their domestic season but quickly put Hearts' reshuffled rearguard under intense pressure.
Steven Pressley's stray defensive header under pressure looped against the top of his own bar.
And Nikolaos Lymperopoulos's snap-shot from 30 yards whistled just over.
Hearts first threat came from Mikoliunas, whose drive from the edge of the box struck the outside of the near post following a deflection.
Saulius Mikoliunas had put Hearts into the lead
But AEK were still in the driving seat and a drive from Julio Cesar flew just over after deflecting off Pressley.
Michal Pospisil headed a Cesar corner against the outside of his own near post.
And Cesar forced a great, finger-tip save from goalkeeper Craig Gordon after a poor Pressley clearance.
AEK continued to look the more dangerous after the break and a drive from Lymperopoulos had the beating of Gordon but slipped just wide of the post.
The out-of-sorts Karipidis was replaced with Edgaras Jankauskas and the fit-again Lithuanian striker helped open the scoring.
He was found in the clear by Fyssas before setting up Bednar, whose shot from 16 yards struck the post before being forced home by Mikoliunas.
Aguiar was shown a second yellow card for throwing the ball away and Hearts head coach Valdas Ivanauskas was forced to withdraw striker Bednar and send on Wallace.
Mikoliunas could have given the 10 men a commanding lead if he had not sliced wildly wide when found unmarked at the back post.
But AEK equalised with a minute left of normal time and added the second in stoppage time to put them in a commanding position for the second leg.
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Hearts: Gordon, Neilson, Fyssas, Berra, Pressley, McCann, Mikoliunas, Aguiar, Karipidis (Jankauskas 55), Bednar (Wallace 69), Pospisil (Elliot 82).
Subs Not Used: Banks, Beslija, Makela, Mole.
Sent Off: Aguiar (66). Booked: Aguiar, McCann.
Goal: Mikoliunas 62.
AEK Athens: Sorrentino, Pautasso (Tziortziopoulos 80), Dellas, Cirillo, Georgeas, Emerson, Ivic, Koutroumanos (Lakis 65), Julio Cesar (Tozser 90), Liberopoulos, Kapetanos.
Subs Not Used: Chiotis, Papaststhopoulos, Moras, Soares.
Booked: Georgeas.
Goals: Kapetanos 89, Berra 90 og.
Att: 32,459
Ref: Nicolai Vollquartz (Denmark).
Ivanauskas says ref cost Hearts
Hearts head coach Valdas Ivanauskas said referee Nicolai Vollquartz cost his team a valuable Champions League lead against AEK Athens.
\"I am very angry, not about our performance, I'm angry about the referee,\" he said after AEK left Edinburgh with a 2-1 win.
\"I think he made mistakes and the mistakes cost us the win.
\"AEK are a very strong team. But, in two weeks, there is another game and we have a chance.\"
Saulius Mikoliunas had put the Jambos ahead, but Bruno Aguiar was dismissed four minutes later when he threw the ball away to earn a second caution.
The Greek side eventually made their one-man advantage count in the closing stages with two late goals to leave Hearts with a mountain to climb in the second leg in Athens in a fortnight.
\"They scored two goals after Bruno was sent off,\" said Ivanauskas.
\"After the red card, it was very difficult for 10 men against a very good team.
\"But, after we scored, we had another chance to score a second goal.\"
Hearts captain Steven Pressley insisted that they still have a chance of qualifying for the Champions League group stages.
\"Although they had the better of the first-half, we dug in and showed great character and steel,\" he said.
\"We worked extremely hard against a very good AEK Athens side.
\"To lose two goals in the last four minutes was extremely disappointing, but it is only halfway in the tie and we still have an opportunity.\"
Brazilian midfielder Emerson, who was a major influence for AEK, thought that the Greeks were the better side.
But the former Rangers player added: \"We had a bit of luck in the last five minutes, although we were the better team for 80 minutes.\"
AEK coach Lorenzo Serra Ferrer did not think the tie was effectively over.
\"It's true we have an advantage and we hope we can take it, but I'm trying to stress to the players that they still have one more game,\" he said.
\"We feel that we dominated the match from the first minute to the last.
\"We always thought that things would work out well as we have worked hard and these efforts paid off.
\"Despite this being our first game, we were confident and, for the second leg, we'll hopefully be stronger.\"
AEK Athens v Hearts
Hearts striker Roman Bednar will miss Wednesday's Champions League qualifier in Athens after picking up an injury in Saturday's 2-0 defeat by Rangers.
Fellow Czech forward Michal Pospisil also suffered an injury in the Scottish Premier League clash.
But he should make the second leg against AEK despite a \"dead leg\".
Midfielder Paul Hartley should make his first start of the season in place of the suspended Bruno Aguiar as Hearts aim to overcome a 2-1 deficit.
Hartley has recovered from a groin problem and played the final 20 minutes of the game at Ibrox at the weekend.
Defenders Ibrahim Tall and Jose Goncalves remain sidelined by injury as the Edinburgh side aim to extend their first ever Champions League campaign to the group stage.
Hearts squad: Gordon, Neilson, Pressley, Berra, Fyssas, Mikoliunas, Hartley, Brellier, Elliot, Jankauskas, Pospisil, McCann, Banks, Wallace, Karipidis, Mole, Makela, Driver.
Hearts aiming for upset in Athens
Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon believes overturning a 2-1 first leg defeat against AEK Athens in Greece would be the club's greatest European feat.
He told the club website: \"A win would be, without doubt, the biggest win Hearts would ever have had.
\"The money side of things and the prestige of what is involved with the Champions League would definitely make it the biggest win ever.
\"It's not impossible. It's very difficult but there is still a chance.\"
Hearts were outplayed for long spells in Edinburgh but led 1-0 until late in the game.
However, Gordon conceded two goals in the final minutes to make Hearts' trip to Greece a very difficult one.
\"It's a massive task ahead of us, we know that, but we will go there confident in our ability to get the win we need,\" the Scotland international added.
\"We have got to get closer to them, shut them down and not let them play as much football as they did at Murrayfield.
\"I know they had a lot of shots from long range but it was the amount of times they managed to manoeuvre themselves into shooting positions and get a shot off, that was the most worrying thing for everybody.
\"But if we can do a bit better and maybe take a couple of chances then it's still there for us.\"
Hearts will be without Roman Bednar and head coach Valdas Ivanauskas admits the loss of the injured Czech striker is a blow to his plans.
However, midfielder Paul Hartley is in line to make his first start of the season.
Ivanauskas said: \"Roman will be a big miss for us because he was in good form but that's football.
\"We need to scan him to see how serious the injury is. Paul is OK but we need to check his fitness.
\"If he is physically and mentally fit then he could start because he is an important player for us but we also have to be careful.\"
