George steps up his player drive at Hearts

HEARTS boss George Burley will today step up his recruitment drive as he tries to clinch the signature of at least three new players before Saturday's trip to Hull.

The Gorgie chief fielded no less than six foreign trialists in last night's friendly against Middlesbrough at Tynecastle and is working around the clock to secure fresh talent before taking his squad south for his final warm-up match ahead of the start of the SPL season.

Burley was impressed by the display of Czech striker Roman Bednar in the opening period of the 1-1 draw and is understood to be closing in on a deal for both him and his fellow countryman Michal Pospisil, who was forced out of the action after ten minutes with a hamstring problem.

Northern Ireland internationalist Steve Lomas didn't feature in the clash although he was due to train again today and Burley is hoping to complete his signing within the next 48 hours.

With former Porto star Edgaras Jankauskas also close to agreeing a move, it promises to be a hectic few days for Burley.

"There were a number of excellent performances last night," said Burley.

"We had a number of trialists in, which is not ideal with just a week and a half to go before the start of the season, but there is no doubt we have to strengthen the squad.

"We have to push things on and we are working on getting one or two deals done before the end of the week."

Chief executive Phil Anderton, meanwhile, has declared the "fans freebie" for last night's game a success. More than 15,000 supporters attended the match after the club took the unprecedented step of waiving admission prices.

"Middlesbrough didn't have a huge support up for the game so to get over 15,000 fans at a pre-season friendly was very pleasing," he said.

"There were obviously a few minor problems but I was delighted with the turn-out. The football on display was very good, Middlesbrough were top quality and I thought we matched them."

The visit of Steve McLaren's side was Burley's first game at Tynecastle since taking the reins in the wake of John Robertson's departure.

"It was good to get my first game in at the ground and I got a good reception from the fans which was nice," he said. "There was a good atmosphere inside the stadium and I thought it was a decent match for the supporters, who turned out in their numbers."

Steven Pressley, meanwhile, remains a free agent due to a wrangle over clauses in his new contract. Talks at resolving the issue are ongoing and the club remains hopeful that the Scotland star, who again had to be listed against Boro as a trialist, will still be at Tynecastle for the next couple of years. Anderton met Pressley on Tuesday afternoon in a bid to resolve the situation and the pair have since had further talks on the matter.

Although there is nothing concrete to announce at the moment, the chief executive remains hopeful of a successful outcome.

He said: "We have had meetings with Steven and further discussions are planned and we remain hopeful of a positive outcome."

Taken from the Scotsman