Karipidis in call for calm after Gers go on goal spree

CHRISTOS KARIPIDIS today urged Hearts supporters not to panic – insisting that there is still time for the Tynecastle side to make the top six.

The Jambos were hoping to continue their recent revival of form against Rangers last night but capitulated in spectacular fashion, losing out 4-0 to Walter Smith's side.

Hearts are three points behind sixth-placed Falkirk and now have just five games left before the league splits.

Their next match is against Inverness – who they are level on points with and who also have their sights set on a spot in the top half – but Karipidis believes Hearts can do it.

He said: "It was a very bad result. We were at home and we need to try more. At this moment we can't panic. If we panic it's not good for us. In two days we have another hard game against Inverness and we need to forget this. I know it's difficult but it's better to forget everything and keep looking forward.

"We have to play better. I think we played well at Motherwell and got a good result but last night we played badly. This is football. Sometimes it's hard and last night it was hard for Hearts. We made some mistakes.

"The top six is the target for us. We will try to win the next game and we are still close to the other teams. We have time."

The Hearts defender felt that his side had matched the visitors in the opening 45-minute period, despite going in at the break with a two-goal deficit, but conceded that it was game over as soon as Nacho Novo hit the Glasgow outfit's third goal just eight minutes after the restart.

The little Spaniard made sure of the points when he turned home a cross from Charlie Adam and went on to round off the scoring with a clever back-heeled flick from eight yards out.

Rangers could have added to their tally in the remaining 21 minutes of the match and Karipidis continued: "In the first half I think the game was 50-50 but we made some mistakes. We didn't mark well at the corner and we were 2-0 down. Rangers scored quickly after the interval and everything was finished for us. Rangers are an experienced team with good players."

While the Ibrox side carved out – and took – a number of chances, Hearts' top goalscorer this season Andrius Velicka was paraded on the pitch at half-time before his move to Viking Stavanger.

And Karipidis, despite maintaining that his side have players capable of filling the void left by the Lithuanian, admitted that the striker will be a huge loss: "Velicka was top scorer but it's not my job to say something about that. This is the team, Velicka has left and we have other players."