RFS coach admits players are tired as he speaks on cup final defeat ahead of Hearts match

RFS coach Viktors Morozs conceded his team arrived in Edinburgh tired after a long season and a cup final loss just seven days ago.
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They meet Hearts at Tynecastle Park on Thursday evening on the penultimate matchday of the Europa Conference League group phase. After a 45-game campaign and a shock defeat by FK Auda in the Latvian Cup final last week, Morozs has detected a touch of fatigue within his squad.

“Yes, I can feel that because some of our players played 45 matches in seven months,” he said. “It’s something Latvian clubs never experienced and it is new for us but I don’t want to think about that. Tomorrow we will play in front of nearly 20,000 people and we are thinking about that.”

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Hearts beat RFS 2-0 in Riga – with Morozs sent to the stand for dissent. “Both teams played exciting football but if we scored when Emerson hit the post then maybe the football would not be so exciting – but it would give us a good result.

“Of course you can’t score all the chances and Hearts had good opportunities. We understood our problems in the first match and what we can improve. We must follow our gameplan and the players must believe.”

Like Hearts, RFS have only a slender chance of qualifying from Group A. Asked what a win would mean for his club and Latvian football in general, Morozs stressed he has only one focus.

“It’s not easy to tell what it could mean for Latvian football. I don’t think about Latvian football. I only think about my club,” he replied. “If it helps Latvian football, fine. If we do our job, our players will be well prepared for their national team. The supporters will like our results and come to the stadium. For sure, it helps Latvian football but these are the next steps.”

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He also played down the significance of the cup final loss, with RFS going on to win 4-0 away at Super Nova in the league on Sunday. “After matches you lose you have another game and you can forget. We won in the Latvian league [on Sunday]. We wanted to win the cup but it’s in the past and we are not thinking about the cup final now. We have so many games now and we can keep working.”