Andy thanks for Pressley

PAUL KIDDIE

RELIEVED Hearts star Andy Webster today thanked goal hero Steven Pressley for saving his blushes against Dundee, the young defender admitting his performance against the Dark Blues was a "nightmare".

Webster was at fault for both Dundee goals as the visitors romped into a 2-0 lead at Tynecastle on Saturday, the former Arbroath stopper missing a clearance in the first half to allow Nacho Novo to break the deadlock before being the guilty party again after the break when Gavin Rae struck to seemingly put the Dens Parkers on the road to victory.

However, a fine strike from substitute Graham Weir breathed some much-needed life into the Jambos and skipper Pressley popped up nine minutes from time to bullet home a header from Jean-Louis Valois’ corner to salvage a point for the home side.

It was more than the hosts could have dared hoped for after a below-par performance and 21-year-old Webster was particularly relieved his blunders hadn’t proved even more costly.

"I suppose it has to be regarded as a good point for us after being 2-0 down in the second half," said the defender, who was due to report with the rest of the Scotland squad later today as Berti Vogts begins his preparations for the make-or-break Euro 2004 qualifier against Lithuania at Hampden Park on Saturday.

"The boys did well to get it back to 2-2 and we might even have sneaked it right at the end but probably didn’t deserve to.

"Nevertheless, we did well in the last half an hour and the skipper came to the rescue.

"Elvis doesn’t normally go up for corners but we needed something different and he popped up with a good goal.

"He certainly saved my blushes as I had a nightmare against Dundee and I would have felt responsible had we lost the match."

Webster, who was watched by Vogts at the weekend, said it was up to him to learn from the experience.

"Being a defender if you make a mistake you tend to lose a goal. I made two mistakes and we lost two goals," he said.

"These things happen but it was disappointing from my point of view. It is something I have to deal with and I’ll have to learn from this."

Levein was delighted at his side’s fightback, his three second-half substitutions proving vital.

"The changes we made worked on Saturday but everyone played their part," he said.

"To be honest the mindset of the players changed when we showed a bit more urgency in the second half. And had we gone on to win the game, on chances and pressure we probably would have deserved it because of the number of times we were in their box towards the end of the match."

Hearts, meanwhile, take on Dundee at Arbroath tonight in the Under-21 league (7pm).

HEARTS defeated Dundee 3-0 in the Under-19 league at the weekend, Ryan Gay, Colin Strickland and Calum Elliot bagging the goals.

Hearts: Windrum, Rutherford, McLeod, Sives, Berra, Gay, Gardiner, Murtagh, Strickland, Elliot, Driver.

Taken from the Scotsman