Focus On The Future

Last updated : 26 July 2016 By ed_ScottishFitba

C:WindowsTempphpDFD7.tmpThe Hearts dressing room has not been the happiest of places in recent days but Alim Ozturk insists lessons will be learned from the Europa League defeat to Birkirkara. The Tynecastle side's Europa League campaign came to an end after a disappointing 2-1 loss to the Maltese side last Thursday. Captain Ozturk, however, insists he and his teammates are now fully focused on making a strong start to the league campaign.

He said: "The first few days after the game everyone was really, really disappointed. But you have to take these lessons board, for many of the guys it was their first experience in Europe. It’s important to get the boys going again and move on. Football isn’t just about one game, we have a long season ahead of us. Hopefully at the end of it we can get into Europe once again. We have a really important game against Celtic on the opening day to focus on. We will be ready for it. The fans were of course disappointed on Thursday, but they are always behind us and I hope they will continue to come out in numbers; first against Fleetwood on Saturday and then for Celtic. It’s always a big boost with the fans behind us."

 
Ozturk was speaking as the club launched their new away strip and was joined by John Souttar, Igor Rossi, Faycal Rherras and Arnaud Djoum. The strip is a modern take on the Scotland jersey worn by club legend Bobby Walker and features Rosebery racing colours of pink and yellow. Osturk explained: "Hearts is a big club with a big history so it’s important to recognise that. These colours on the new strip play a part of that history."