ROBERTSON LOOKS FOR CUTTING EDGE

Hearts head coach John Robertson admitted he desperately needs a new striker after watching his team fail to break down Partick Thistle in the Tennent's Scottish Cup third round tie.

The game ended goalless with Hearts' best chance of the game coming in the last minute from a 40-yard Phil Stamp free-kick.

The game at Firhill was the first since striker Mark de Vries and defender Alan Maybury quit Tynecastle to join up with former boss Craig Levein at Leicester City, and the Bank of Scotland Premier League side missed the threat of de Vries up front.

Robertson is in the dark as to what budget he will have to bolster his squad as Lithuanian banker Vladimir Romanov's proposed takeover of the club becomes more and more protracted.

But Robertson insists the lack of a goalscoring threat up front was a problem he inherited from his predecessor and it is one he is keen to remedy as quickly as possible.

He said: "For sheer guts and effort, Partick deserved the draw and they deserve the replay.

"I thought we totally dominated the second half in particular but never really looked like cutting them open.

"The standard of our finishing and our play in the last third has to improve. It sums it up that Robbie Neilson had the best chances in the game and he's a right-back.

"We know where our problems are and the problem has been there all season, they were there when Craig started the season and the team wasn't scoring enough goals.

"We'll try to get players in the best we can but given the current financial climate it's going to be very difficult for us."

Partick came closest to finding the back of the net when Juan Escalas's shot cannoned off the post 10 minutes before half-time.

New manager Dick Campbell took over the Firhill hotseat on Tuesday and this game was his first real opportunity to see his players in action.

Even though he plans to do some wheeling and dealing this month if he can move players on, Campbell admits that most of his players earned pass marks for their commitment against Hearts.

He said: "You come into this environment where there is a big stadium, lovely playing pitch, good crowd and great atmosphere and the players have to want to play in that.

"One thing they did do was give us every single thing they've got and that's what you demand.

"I was disappointed with one or two aspects of the game today in terms of possession and retention of the ball. That comes with confidence and there were one or two lacking in confidence but I'll give them another opportunity.

"The way the team plays has to echo the type of manager they have. Anyone who doesn't give 100% shouldn't be taking money as a professional footballer.

"But I'm very happy with the commitment and the players have to take a lot of confidence out of not losing a goal."

Campbell's main aim this season is keeping Partick in the Bell's First Division and that means moving out of the danger zone as soon as possible but he is thrilled to have another crack at the Scottish Cup.

He added: "There's plenty to work on but we'll build on that. We restricted Hearts to a 40-yard shot from Stamp in the last minute and the goalkeeper didn't have a save to make.

"In terms of possession of the ball, Hearts were well on top and I'm annoyed at that.

"The main thing is that we're still in the cup and it would be wrong to say that we deserved to win the game."

Taken from sportinglife.com