Romanov tipped to further boost squad

“If he (Romanov) thought it was in the best interests of the club and if the manager had identified players then I’m sure there would be new players coming to the club, but that is a long way off,” said Pressley, right, while Burley agreed that if the club were in a position to take on Rangers and Celtic at the turn of the season, they would not be hindered by a lack of ambition from the man at the top. “He has shown that he is willing and I would think we would be able to strengthen,” said the manager.

Edgaras Jankauskas, Roman Bednar, Rudi Skacel and Julien Brellier are in line to face Tony Mowbray’s side, with Czech striker Michal Pospisil suffering a hamstring problem. Saulius Mikoliunas and Deividas Cesnauskis, the Lithuanian wingers signed last season, are also in the squad, but Pressley says the balance between quality imports and a strong home spine is still present at the club. “Our fans are on a high but we need to be very careful and not expect too much too soon, ” he said. “We are in the early stages of team development and there is a lot of hard work ahead. We are going in the right direction and have brought in quality players but teams don’t gel overnight. Last week there were seven Scots starting and five had international experience; that says a lot. We could never be criticised for not developing younger players.”

There may, however, be one less Scottish starter today, with Brellier, a French central midfielder signed from Inter Milan this week, a possible replacement for Neil MacFarlane, while the pursuit of the Greece left-back Panagiotis Fyssas could relegate Jamie McAllister to the sidelines and limit opportunities for promising youngster Lee Wallace.

Pressley, though, is concerned only with today’s derby. “People say these games are for three points, but it goes deeper than that; it can give everyone a lift,” he said. “You can gain momentum for the rest of the season. We experienced the Uefa Cup group stages last season and it was fantastic. We’re envious of Hibs having those European games and we’re determined to have it next season. They did extremely well and merited their place, but we are always there or thereabouts and it’s important we cement that place this year.”

Burley, meanwhile, will be looking to overturn a poor record for managers making their Edinburgh derby debut, as none of the past five dug-out rookies in this fixture have recorded a win. Alex McLeish was the last to achieve the feat in April 1998, with a 2-1 victory at Easter Road. Since then, Craig Levein, Franck Sauzee, Bobby Williamson, Tony Mowbray and John Robertson have all seen their sides fail to win their first capital derby.

Taken from timesonline.co.uk