Exclusive:Injuries force Hearts' hand for Benfica as Wouter Vrancken explains MJ Kamson-Kamara situation
Tynecastle side heading to Portugal for the Europa League third qualifying round
Hearts head coach Wouter Vrancken is demanding a strong defence against Benfica despite mounting injuries limiting his options. The Belgian is without an entire back four for the Europa League third qualifying round. However, he is determined to improvise and structure his team accordingly for what is a daunting assignment, starting with Thursday’s first leg in Lisbon.
Centre-backs Craig Halkett and Malachi Fagan-Walcott are out injured alongside full-backs Christian Borchgrevink and Stephen Kingsley. Vrancken deployed midfielder Oisin McEntee at centre-back for Saturday’s opening Premiership match against Aberdeen, and was rewarded with a strong display - plus the opening goal - from the Irishman playing alongside Stuart Findlay. Hearts conceded two goals on 90 and 95 minutes to lose the match 2-1 after McEntee was moved into midfield.
That central defensive pairing may well be chosen again against Benfica, but MJ Kamson-Kamara will come into Vrancken’s thoughts. The Englishman has been added to Hearts’ European squad following Fagan-Walcott’s withdrawal due to an ankle injury. Kamson-Kamara is fit but was not included in Hearts’ 20-man matchday squad at Pittodrie. He will now travel with the squad for this week’s European tie.
Speaking exclusively to the Edinburgh News, Vrancken explained why Kamson-Kamara was not named among the substitutes on Saturday. “MJ is okay,” he said. “We chose more offensive profiles to make substitutions at this moment so that we could go all-out in attack. We had some options in central defence, so it wasn't necessary to take an extra central defender on the bench.
“You have to point out what went wrong on Saturday, for sure, so that it's clear. Then you also have to point out the good things, because we showed a lot of good things as well. It's unbelievable that you give it away in five minutes [at the end]. We have to be there in these situations. We were okay in these situations during the whole game, but you cannot stop at 85 minutes. You have to be there until 90 minutes or more. Then you have to switch off and go to the next one.
“I think we have to be smarter, for sure. I think when you're 1-0 ahead and you're controlling the game, you also have to be smart in those situations, especially at the end, that we're not going to go forward with all those people. We have to manage it a little bit better at that moment so they cannot counter-attack, and that we keep control of the game like this. We don't have to do it. But again, when you get a free-kick there as well, you have to do better.”
Turning his attention to Benfica, Vrancken stressed that Hearts must be organised and ready for Benfica’s array of international starts. Greek striker Vangelis Pavlidis is a principal dangerman who scored four goals in last week’s 5-0 rout against St Gallen at the Estadio da Luz. Other threats include Danish winger Andreas Schjelderup and the Polish forward Jacub Kaminski, plus Portugal’s Rafa Silva.
“Of course, it's a European top team, so we have to make sure that we are organised well and that we have a good block,” commented Vrancken. “We cannot do a lot of different things for one game or one team. We have to stick with what we trained on and we have to do it well, especially against such a good team.”