Elvis lives on at Hearts

HEARTS chief executive Phil Anderton today spoke of his delight after skipper Steven Pressley agreed to sign a two-year deal with the club.

The Scotland star's future at Tynecastle had been plunged into doubt after it emerged he had refused to sign his new SPL contract amid concerns over certain areas of the agreement.

Following a series of discussions with Anderton - the most recent of which took place last night - those issues have now been resolved and Pressley has committed himself to the club until the summer of 2007, with an option to extend for another 12 months depending on appearances.

"Steven had signed on for a couple of years before I came to the club," said Anderton. "But new-style SPL contracts were introduced from July 1 and there were a number of elements which we needed to iron out.

"We have had good discussions over a number of days and I am delighted to say the situation has been resolved and that Steven will be signing his new contract.

"He is the club captain and an inspirational figure and we wanted to keep him and have him content."

He added: "Steven was 100 per cent professional in our discussions and was a pleasure to do business with."

New boss George Burley had been forced to field his captain as a trialist in the pre-season friendlies against East Fife, Stirling Albion and Middlesbrough as the club attempted to resolve the problem.

Anderton was always confident the defender would remain at Tynecastle, although he conceded there had always been the risk he could have slipped through Hearts' fingers as the talks progressed.

"I get on very well with Steven and was quietly confident he would stay," he said.

"However, when a player is not under contract there is always the concern that there may have been interest from other clubs and that he may have gone elsewhere.

"However, George Burley has been very supportive and rates Steven very highly and we are all pleased that it is now done and dusted."

With the future of their defensive linchpin secured, the Jambos will now turn their focus on tying down Czech strikers Roman Bednar and Micahl Pospisil and Lithuanian front man Edgaras Jankauskas.

"It's a case of moving on to other signings now and we are making good progress there, too," said Anderton.

Bednar, who impressed in the first half against Middlesbrough, will feature again in the friendly at Hull tomorrow, although his compatriot will miss the trip to the KC Stadium with the hamstring strain picked up after just ten minutes of Wednesday's game.

French midfielder Julien Brellier is also unlikely to figure after picking up a knock in midweek.

Full-back Robbie Neilson returns to the squad, while Stephen Simmons will also be included after shaking off his injury.

"We will see who is available for the trip as we have one or two niggling wee injuries but we'll try to field as strong a team as we can," said Burley.

Taken from the Scotsman