HEARTS boss George Burley revealed today he hopes to bring in at least one new face by the time the club host Middlesbrough in their first home pre-season game.

The Jambos face their English Premiership opponents on Wednesday evening and, with a near-capacity crowd expected, Burley is keen to add to his squad before the clash.

The most likely arrival is Czech midfield ace Rudolf Skacel.

Burley is close to landing the 25-year-old Marseille player on a season-long loan.

He spent last season on loan at Greek side Panathinaikos but they have not made a move to keep him, allowing Burley to step in.

Skacel has been quoted as saying: "The deal is 90 per cent done, I hope to get everything finalised so I can go to Scotland next week."

Burley has handed a list of other transfer targets to chief executive Phil Anderton to try to lure to Scotland but, so far, the club's efforts have been frustrated.

Livingston's Burton O'Brien and Polish striker Marek Saganowski have already turned their backs on offers from the Jambos with O'Brien penning a three-year deal with Sheffield Wednesday and Saganowski completing a £500,000 switching to Portuguese outfit Vitoria Guimaraes.

Belarus internationalist Aliaxander Khatskevich and Frenchman Julien Brellier, both midfielders, played in the 2-1 victory over East Fife on Tuesday night and they were due to be assessed again either in the friendly with Stirling Albion today or tomorrow's trip to Berwick Rangers.

The Capital club have also been linked with Skacel's compatriot, Borussia Monchengladbach forward Marek Heinz.

Burley would only comment "Heinz is a player I'm aware of."

But, with the new season just two weeks away, Burley faces a race against time if he is to recruit the six new players he feels he needs for the SPL campaign.

However, with work frantically going on behind the scenes, the ex Ipswich manager is confident his plans will fall into place sooner rather than later.

"The idea would be to have new faces in for the Middlesbrough game if we can," he revealed. "We are looking to strengthen the striking department as that is definitely an area that needs attention although there are other areas."

And on the futures of trialists Khatskevich and Brellier, Burley added: "Thursday was not an easy game for them to come into and they haven't done a lot of training but we need to see them in matches. I've taken a look at them but we will continue to do that and hopefully we can add to the squad sooner rather than later. Contacts in Europe recommended them so we had a look at them and they will play again this weekend."

Burley will use half his squad in today's game with Stirling Albion at Forthbank and half in the game at Berwick tomorrow so everyone gets as much game time as possible.

Taken from the Scotsman