Hearts players get stuck in lift before Aberdeen match

The players were released about 20 minutes after getting stuck

Four Hearts players got stuck in the lift of their hotel for 20 minutes as they prepared for a match.

The players - including Andy Driver, David Templeton and Mehdi Taouil - were staying at the Holiday Inn in Westhill, near Aberdeen, on Saturday when the incident happened.

Defender Ryan McGowan snapped his team mates emerging from the elevator and posted the image on Twitter.

The team was staying at the hotel ahead of Sunday's game with Aberdeen.

In a tweet accompanying the photograph, Australian international McGowan told his 9,800 followers: "Just arrived up in Aberdeen & loving the fact that @dtempleton89 and driver got stuck in the lift."

The image, which shows fellow defender Andy Webster laughing at the entrance to the elevator as his teammates appear, has been re-tweeted more than 250 times.

One fan who replied joked: "I thought athletes would take the stairs" while another admitted: "I shouldn't laugh, cos I would be freaking out if that was me, but it's too funny."

The players had been heading up to their rooms at the time. All four featured in the match at Pittodrie, which ended in a 0-0 draw.

A spokesman for the hotel said management had immediately called the elevator's manufacturer, who arrived in 20 minutes to release the players.

He added: "Nobody was injured, the lads were in very good spirits and were laughing about it afterwards.

"This is very much a one-off. I've never heard it happening in the hotel before."