Hours after former Ghana winger Bernard Dong-Bortey said he hopes to play for Accra Hearts of Oak again before retiring from football, Hearts’ manager Mohammed Polo has moved quickly to pour cold water on the winger’s claims insisting that his focus is to build a young but winsome side.

At age 31, Bernard Don Bortey is hoping to once again return to Hearts but Coach Polo says his emphasis is on the younger ones and not players who do not fall within the specified young age brackets.

Dong-Bortey rose to prominence during his nine-year spell with Hearts but Polo says he does not believe his side currently needs the winger.

“We don’t need Don Bortey now. I have a mission and that is to prepare a young team for the future. We are looking at grooming the younger ones for a successful Hearts future and I don’t think Don Bortey falls within this bracket”.

“He could be playing well wherever he is but we currently don’t need him. This is not to say that he is not a good player, far from that”.