© EuroFootball.com
Official website of Edinburgh club talked on Friday and with the team's newcomer from Lithuania Saulius Mikoliūnas, who quickly established himself in the capital team after arriving in Scotland in January, and introduced him to the club's fans.
At the beginning of the year, after a training camp in Scotland, 20-year-old Saulius, along with his peer Marius Kižys, signed a six-month contract with Hearts, chosen from many Eastern European footballers.
After working on improving his physical condition for a couple of weeks, he debuted in a match against Livingston and helped Hearts eliminate a one-goal deficit and win the game. Later, starting a match from the beginning for the first time, he was named the best player in the game against Aberdeen, and was also important for his team in the league cup semi-final loss to Motherwell, as well as in the Scottish cup game against Kilmarnock.
The young Lithuanian is gradually gaining the trust of the team's coach John Robertson, and the coach even believes that his pupil has not yet played to his full potential because, unlike his teammates, Mikoliūnas only recently started a new football season.
"Saulius brings energy to the team. He arrived and showed that he can play in any position, also demonstrating his speed and technique during training camp," said Robertson - "In fact, he is currently showing only 80% of his abilities. Together with Marius (Kižys - editor's note) they fit in well here, the team likes them, and I hope they will do well."
Scottish journalists and Hearts fans discussing Mikoliūnas's game are facing one problem - the Lithuanian surname is difficult to pronounce, and so far everyone has unsuccessfully tried to "attach" some nickname to him.
"The coach was the first to start calling me 'Saul', but in Lithuania my teammates called me 'Mika'," said the Lithuanian, who has played for three clubs in his homeland - "I started my professional career in Vilnius at the age of eighteen. In my first season, I played for three different clubs - I started for 'Vilnius', then moved to 'Ekranas' in the middle of the season, and at the end of the season I moved to 'Kaunas'."
Saulius Mikoliūnas, who has represented the national team four times, wants to continue improving and admits that the training base of Hearts has made an impression on him: "There were no such conditions in Kaunas. They also have a good training base there, but I wouldn't say it's as good as here. Here we have four training fields outdoors and indoors. I think it's just great."
Mikoliūnas also enjoys challenging himself in the Scottish Premier League, where, after impressing coach John Robertson, he got the opportunity to debut almost immediately after joining the team. Furthermore, Mikoliūnas has left a good impression in several matches in Scotland.
"I am very happy to be playing in the first team. When I arrived here, I didn't know what to expect, but luckily the coach gave me the opportunity to play," said Mikoliūnas - "Football here is faster and the players are stronger. The game here relies much more on physical strength than in Lithuania."
When asked about the fact that opponents' defenders often treat him roughly, the young player admitted that he will have to accept it and try to avoid it: "Yes, during those games that I played here, defenders crossed the line quite a few times. This rarely happens in Lithuania, because there I managed to avoid defenders. Here they are faster, so in order to avoid them I have to become faster."
Mikoliūnas also likes the Hearts fans in Scotland, who warmly welcomed him and showed their undeniable passion and dedication to the club: "The team's fans here are different from the fans in Kaunas; more people come to the games and they are much louder. I enjoy playing in front of these fans in every match."
Without a doubt, "Mika" has quickly adapted not only on the field, but he also reveals that he enjoys life in Scotland: "Christophe Berra (a Hearts defender younger than Mikoliūnas - editor's note) looked after me outside the field and showed me the city of Edinburgh, which is a great place to live."
It may become more difficult for the Lithuanian to establish himself in the main team lineup when a more experienced teammate from the Lithuanian national team, Deividas Česnauskis, also playing as a full-back, joins the team, but Mikoliūnas looks optimistically towards the future.
"I have a contract with Hearts until the end of the season. If everything goes well, I will like Hearts and Hearts will like me, then I hope we will talk about my stay here for a longer time," hoped Mikoliūnas.
