Pressley ensures Hearts are in pole position for 'big one'

"NEXT week is the big one," was how Hearts boss Craig Levein summed up the forthcoming showdown with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park after seeing his side defeat Dunfermline in Fife.

And don’t the Jambos just know it.

Levein will take his team to Ayrshire on Saturday knowing that victory over Jim Jefferies’ outfit will clinch a place in the UEFA Cup next season.

It has been a long, hard slog but the simple fact is that Hearts are now just 90 minutes away from cementing third place in the Premierleague and bringing European football back to Tynecastle.

Steven Pressley’s second-half penalty winner was enough to see off the challenge of the Pars at East End Park on Saturday, the result carrying the Capital side ten points clear of nearest rivals Killie ahead of their trip to Dundee yesterday.

There was therefore enormous pressure on Jefferies’ men to deliver at Dens Park but they came up with the goods with Chris Innes’ strike 14 minutes from time seeing that deficit reduced to seven points.

However, with just four games left to play, if Hearts can conjure up another win at Kilmarnock this weekend - Mark de Vries scored in a 1-0 win in November - they will have an unassailable lead in third place.

"I thought that we did a professional job on Saturday," said Levein.

"I was pleased to get the points at a ground which is notoriously difficult to get anything.

"But next week is the big one. And as difficult as it was against Dunfermline it will be doubly difficult next week at Kilmarnock."

Hearts have soared into pole position for European qualification after a consistent run of results, particularly after the winter break.

And the key to that success has been a tightening up at the back.

Since returning to Premierleague action after the January shutdown Levein has seen his team concede just six goals (the Scottish Cup defeat at Falkirk an obvious exception) in stringing together an impressive run of just one defeat - against Rangers at Ibrox - in 12 matches.

The highlight of that sequence was undoubtedly last week’s stunning 2-1 win over Celtic in the Capital.

The victory over the UEFA Cup finalists, however, saw expectations rocket ahead of the short trip across the Forth. Lifted by the triumph over the Glasgow giants, the Gorgie faithful turned up in their thousands and appeared to outnumber the home support in the crowd of just under 7000.

In the build-up to the clash, Levein had emphasised the need to ensure the good work of seven days previous was not wasted. And while his team’s display failed to reach the epic heights of last weekend, few of those people who attended at East End Park could argue with the three points heading back to Edinburgh.

Saturday’s triumph over the Pars was again moulded on a sound defensive performance. It wasn’t pretty times but it was certainly effective.

In a game lacking in clear-cut opportunities, the visitors always enjoyed the upper hand - particularly in the second half - without managing to thrust home their territorial advantage.

Hearts were able to knock Celtic out of their stride last week as they chased every ball and harried every opponent and much the same approach was required on Saturday.

And the players duly delivered.

The Fifers’ strike pairing of Stevie Crawford and Craig Brewster have troubled most defences this season but they got little change out of the impressive Andy Webster - who will have nudged himself closer to a first cap against Austria on Wednesday night with Scotland boss Berti Vogts an interested spectator - and Pressley.

But it wasn’t just the back four who did well. The midfielders worked their socks off while De Vries and Weir kept the Pars defence on its toes throughout.

The pressing game eventually paid handsome dividends with the skipper’s 56th-minute penalty after De Vries, who had been a thorn in the hosts’ side all afternoon, was sent tumbling in the box by an ill-advised challenge by Lee Bullen.

The goal rounded off a superb match for the skipper, who had been rated as less than "50-50" by his manager due to a thigh knock just 24 hours before the game.

As Pars boss Jimmy Calderwood admitted afterwards, his side had been "shoved about" by Hearts and in truth the Jambos never looked like conceding their advantage.

In fact, they were unfortunate not to add to their lead.

De Vries, whose premature departure in the second half with a hamstring injury was the only disappointment on an otherwise fruitful afternoon for Levein, had a goal chalked off for handball just five minutes after Pressley had comprehensively beaten Ruitenbeek from the spot.

The powerful Dutchman had given Bullen a tough time at the back and if the Pars ace had thought the striker’s exit would give him a bit more breathing space, Canadian Kevin McKenna stepped off the bench to lead the line well along with Andy Kirk who had replaced the industrious Weir.

Both strikers had efforts saved by Ruitenbeek as Hearts continued to keep a stranglehold on the game and Levein was understandably delighted at the way his men continued the good work on show against Celtic.

"It was a different game to last week’s against Celtic," he said.

"But all credit to our fans who were very vocal but the atmosphere wasn’t the same and we had to generate our own inner urgency.

"Each player had to go out and do a job and I felt they did that.

"The game could have been a letdown after last weekend. We could have sat back and patted ourselves on the back for the good performance but they didn’t do that.

"We wanted to go out and pass the ball but it was difficult. Dunfermline like to do the same but the surface was very hard and that made it tough.

"There were a few misplaced passes in the first half but things improved after the break and without being brilliant I felt we thoroughly deserved to win the match."

Calderwood was left to rue another poor performance from his side and had no complaints from the spot-kick award which gave Hearts the victory.

"Hearts ground out a result again and that is something we are finding difficult to do at the moment," he said.

"The penalty was amateur defending. Big Elvis marshalls the Hearts defence well and never gets caught one on one. That is what Lee Bullen has to learn.

"Hearts are a good side and made it difficult for us and while we were pushed about in certain areas we didn’t create too much in front of their goal.

"It was a poor performance by us. Hearts came here knowing they were going to have to battle for a result - and that is what they did."

And that is exactly what Levein will be urging his players to do again at Rugby Park.

Taken from the Scotsman