THE flight path from Lithuania to Scotland has become a well-travelled one for footballers over the past 15 years or so. Of course, the fact that one of the biggest clubs in the country was owned by a Lithuanian bank for a spell can explain away the majority of the arrivals from the former Baltic state, but not all of them.

As well as Hearts - where an ever-changing enclave of Lithuanian nationals took residence during the tumultuous tenure of Vladimir Romanov - other clubs have offered a home to others over the years, with Lithuanians pitching up at Dunfermline Athletic, Rangers, Ross County and, only this week, Motherwell.

On the other side of Edinburgh, they have not been deterred by the ongoing Lithuanian link with Hearts. And so Valdas Trakys was a Hibernian player in 2010/11, while this summer manager Neil Lennon moved for the midfielder Vykintas Slivka and his striking compatriot Deivydas Matulevicius. Both could feature for Lithuania against Scotland on Friday night.

“I spoke with maybe six players who had been here about coming to Scotland,” revealed Matulevicius. “And they all told me it was a very good country to come and play football in, everything is perfect.

“And when I got here I was really surprised. It’s a big difference from Belgium [where he played last season]. Everything is 10 times better. You have everything you need just to focus on training and the games so I am really happy.

“It is good that Slivka is here, too. Normally it is easier when you are not alone from your country. With Vyk, we have been friends through the national team and I have known him for almost four years. So it is easier for the two of us to be on the one team.”

As a big, powerful centre-forward, Matulevicius has attributes similar to Edgaras Jankauskas, the striker who won the Champions League with Porto before spending two seasons at Hearts a decade ago.

Jankauskas, incidentally, is now the manager of the Lithuanian national team and someone Matulevicius is obviously keen to impress.

“He is a big inspiration,” said the 28-year-old, perhaps wisely. “He was a top player. He was with [Jose] Mourinho when Porto won the Champions League.

“Every time you meet with the national team he tells you something you can take away with you. As a striker, you can take a lot from him, but also for all players, you can take a lot of experience from him. He is young but he played in big teams, in a Champions League final, so he has a lot to offer.

“He is a winner. It doesn’t matter who you play - Scotland, England, or even Brazil - he just wants to win the game and for you just go to the pitch and give everything. Now we are starting to believe in the team because we have a lot of meetings and he tells us to believe in ourselves. He is good for us.

“Many Lithuanian players played for Hearts because the owner was from Lithuania. But he is now the manager so he doesn’t care where his players play, as long as they play for good clubs.”

Matulevicius has only been living here for a month or so but has already gleaned enough of an impression of Scottish football to bolster his knowledge ahead of Friday’s Group F World Cup qualifier in Vilnius.

At close range he has seen daily in training the capabilities of Steven Whittaker and John McGinn, while he is aware of the dangers possessed by the others in the Scotland squad. Despite that, he is unfazed by the challenge, especially given Lithuania were unlucky only to draw when the sides met at Hampden back in October.

“Every day we are joking with Steven and John so we will wait for this game to see what happens,” he added. “In the last game we got a draw but they scored in the last seconds, so let’s see.

“I thought we were the better team – that’s only my opinion. Maybe Scotland have big names but you don’t play names, you play the team. So we will look forward and in one week we will see who the better team is.

“We have some experienced players and a lot of young players and we are looking forward. The results in Scotland and against Slovenia were really good for us and we started to play some really nice football. So let’s see.”

The match will be Scotland’s first competitive outing on an artificial surface but Matulevicius revealed the Lithuanians aren’t overly enamoured with it either.

“It’s a shame for us, too. We don’t have a good stadium in Lithuania at this time. Nobody likes to play on this pitch, but we don’t have another choice. We don’t have a national stadium. But having a week to train on it is a plus for us.”