HEARTS captain Steven Pressley could walk away from the club for nothing, it emerged today.

The Tynecastle fans' favourite put pen to paper on a new deal with the club in March which came into effect on July 1.

However, the SPL have introduced a new contract format which inserts several clauses in all deals to be signed by players in Scotland's top flight.

The contract which Pressley previously agreed was an "old style" deal and, when the club took the new contract back to him, he was unhappy with several of the inclusions.

Pressley is now, technically, a free agent and had to be listed as a trialist for last night's 2-1 win over East Fife at Bayview.

He can continue to play for George Burley's side in the remaining pre-season matches but would have to be listed as a trialist. However, until the defender signs the new deal he will be ineligible to play in SPL games.

One of the areas Pressley is believed to be unhappy with in the new SPL deal is "Clause Two", which allows clubs to cancel a player's deal if the player is injured for a set period of time.

Pressley and his representatives are due to sit down with Hearts chief executive Phil Anderton next week in a bid to resolve the matter. Anderton said this morning: "I'd be surprised if Steven didn't sign the deal.

"It's not a big problem.

Steven re-signed with the club before I joined but the SPL have now introduced a new format for any contracts taking effect from the start of July.

"It's really just bureaucracy and we hope to get it ironed out when we meet next week.

"There are a couple of things that the SPL have inserted that Steven is not happy with, although I don't want to go into what they are. They are confidential.

"But Steven is the captain of Hearts and I'm sure he wants to remain here."

Meanwhile, Hearts' glamour friendly against Middlesbrough next week is heading for a full house, Anderton revealed today.

Supporters have been responding in their droves to the club's offer of free tickets for the clash at Tynecastle on Wednesday night and Anderton is anticipating a capacity crowd of just under 18,000 for the visit of Steve McLaren's Premiership aces.

As we revealed on Tuesday, the Gorgie outfit has taken the unprecedented step of allowing all fans into the game free of charge, with the first tickets having been available for uplift since Wednesday following police approval of the plan.

Thousands of supporters have since been flocking to the ground to pick up their briefs for the match, which will be new manager George Burley's first game at Tynecastle, and more than 10,000 have already been snapped up.

It is also the Jambos' only home friendly prior to the start of the SPL season and Anderton has admitted he has been pleasantly surprised by the supporters' response.

"We have been inundated by fans coming along to Tynecastle for tickets over the past few days," he said. "The response has been great and we are now expecting all tickets for the game to go, which is terrific news."

Season ticket holders who purchased prior to the pre-arranged date of July 12 will be sent their Middlesbrough tickets through the post.

Taken from the Scotsman