Hartley eyes final place despite transfer request

Paul Hartley looks certain to appear at Easter Road for the CIS Insurance Cup semi-final against Motherwell even though his mind is clearly elsewhere. The midfield player, who is Hearts’ top scorer with 13 goals this season, is bitterly angry that the club rejected a bid from Celtic for him and has handed in a transfer request.

While Hartley’s situation was still uncertain last night as the transfer window moved towards a midnight closure, John Robertson, the head coach, believes that the 28-year-old — who was called into the Scotland squad by Walter Smith last week — will cast aside the personal disappointment of being denied a move.

“Paul will be ready to go, as he has done all season for us, and he’ll run through a brick wall for us to get to the final,” insisted Robertson. Celtic made an increased offer on Sunday — believed to be £400,000 — for Hartley, which George Foulkes, the Hearts chairman, branded an insult.

Hartley is fit after missing the 1-0 Premierleague win over Aberdeen on Saturday with a strained hamstring. Robertson added: “Paul Hartley is in the squad. Transfer windows are in place and we just have to deal with them. I heard there was a slightly improved offer (from Celtic) on Sunday, which has been rejected again by the club. If I have got this squad to work with until now and the end of the season, I will be happy because we have got quality players.”

Robertson went largely unrewarded during his 17 years as a player for Hearts between 1981 and 1998. The club won only one piece of silverware, the Scottish Cup in 1998 in his swansong appearance, and lost in two other Scottish Cup finals and the 1995-96 League Cup final to Rangers.

However, Robertson believes that he can guide them into a final at Hampden Park on March 20, just three months after replacing Craig Levein at Tynecastle. “It is a massive occasion,” stated Robertson. “Semi-finals do not come around very often. However, Motherwell have made it difficult in the league games this season.”

Hearts are expected to monopolise the decibel count at Easter Road tonight, with their supporters outnumbering Motherwell’s by four to one inside the ground of their rivals, Hibernian. Though Hearts have been gripped by a civil war over the last two years over a proposed move to Murrayfield, the arrival of Vladimir Romanov, a Lithuanian millionaire who is about to take control of the club, has injected fresh enthusiasm among fans with almost 30,000 turning out for their last two home games in the Uefa Cup against Ferencvaros and FC Schalke 04.

Terry Butcher believes his Motherwell players will be spurred on by the last semi-final appearance, when they lost out to Rangers in a bid to reach the 2003 Scottish Cup final, going down 4-3 after leading 2-1.

“We have a lot of young players and this will be their second semi-final in two years, so it is a great experience for them,” said the manager. “The feeling of losing a semi-final is a very hard one to take. It doesn’t matter how old you are, if you go out in the last four, it still hurts. I lost a few as a player myself and the contrast in emotions from winning is incredible.

“You only need to speak to our defender, David Partridge — who has lost all four of his semi-finals — to know about the empty feeling of leaving the ground as a loser. That should be a spur for my players but the very fact that we have to play against Hearts in Edinburgh will motivate my players. It is a fantastic opportunity for both clubs to reach a final.”

HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN (possible 4-4-2): C Gordon — R Neilson, A Webster, S Pressley, J McAllister — J Hamill, N MacFarlane, S Simmons, M Stewart — D Wyness, L Miller.

MOTHERWELL (possible 4-4-2): G Marshall — P Quinn, S Craigan, D Partridge, S Hammell — R Foran, M Corrigan, S Leitch, M Fitzpatrick — S McDonald, D Clarkson.

Taken from timesonline.co.uk