We can't dwell on cup defeat, warns Pressley

GRAEME CROSER

HEARTS skipper Steven Pressley today warned his team-mates that they have no time to feel sorry for themselves.

The Jambos were today recovering from the knock-out blow delivered by Motherwell’s Marc Fitzpatrick in the dying stages of an epic and thrilling CIS Cup semi-final at Easter Road but Elvis insists they cannot dwell on the defeat.

With the Scottish Cup next on the agenda for the Tynecastle side - they face Kilmarnock in a fourth-round tie this weekend - Pressley knows they have the opportunity to quickly mend their pride and maintain their hopes of clinching silverware this season.

He said: "The dressing-room was extremely quiet after the game. Nobody had to say anything because we all knew we had passed up a great opportunity to reach a cup final.

"We’re disappointed for the fans as well because they gave us tremendous backing.

"We just have to look forward. We play Kilmarnock on Saturday and it gives us a chance to redeem ourselves and it’s also another cup tie. We now know exactly what it feels like to miss out on the chance of a cup final place and we don’t want to throw away our participation in the Scottish Cup.

"Allied to that, we know the cup is one of two avenues open to us in terms of European qualification and we want to keep it open.

"We’re on a good run at the moment - we went into the semi with a lot of confidence and we have to ensure we keep our heads up. There’s no point in getting too down about last night because there’s a lot still to play for.

"We’ve closed the gap on Hibs in the league recently and we’re looking to clinch a UEFA Cup place by catching them and finishing third."

Pressley insists the comeback, which saw the Jambos haul back a two-goal deficit in the final five minutes of regulation time last night, highlighted the fighting spirit in the team.

He continued: "I must admit that last night was a fantastic opportunity for us. Full credit to Motherwell, though. They came through with a game-plan and worked extremely hard.

"They took their chances when they came along and that’s why they’re sitting in the final. Craig Gordon hardly had a save to make all night but they were more clinical. We showed tremendous spirit as we do week in, week out - the one thing you can say about this Hearts side is that we have a never-say-die attitude.

"We came back against Livingston last week with two late goals and we did it against Motherwell. Even if you look at our games in recent weeks there’s been numerous late goals so we’re fighting for everything. Of course we need to stop going behind - we’ve been giving ourselves a lot to do lately. Our goals-against column speaks for itself, though. We’ve not conceded that many this season and we’ve also proved that if we get our noses in front we’re hard to beat."

Taken from the Scotsman