HARTLEY WARNS AGAINST FANS' HOPES

Hearts midfielder Paul Hartley admits the support of the growing and increasingly expectant Gorgie faithful could prove to be a double-edged sword for the Jambos this season.

An incredible 6,000 Tynecastle fans travelled to Almondvale to see the Edinburgh club chalk up their sixth consecutive Bank of Scotland Premier League win against Livingston to leave them five points clear at the top of the table over second-placed Celtic.

However, halfway through the second half - despite the visitors leading 3-1 with goals by Hartley, Andy Webster and Rudi Skacel - there were some signs of irritation amongst the maroon-clad hordes until the Scotland international's second goal, via the penalty spot, sealed the points and eased the nerves.

Hartley claims the hopes of the Jambos fans need to be tempered.

He said: "I think the fans are getting carried away. They have not had a lot of success over the years and so they are turning out in numbers now.

"We have only won six games and we didn't win many last season but there is a long, long way to go and we are going to come up against difficult teams and especially next Saturday when we travel to Inverness.

"The fans are enjoying the way we are playing just now. We are playing free-flowing and exciting football and they didn't have much to shout about so hopefully we can give them a wee bit of success. But it does put pressure on us."

After returning from international duty with fellow Jambos Steven Pressley, Andy Webster and Craig Gordon where they helped Scotland draw against Italy and beat Norway, Hartley admits things could hardly be going any better for him or the Gorgie club.

He said: "It's been one of the best weeks of my career, not just for me but for the other three Scottish internationals in the dressing room.

"It was good to come back amongst some of the English coaches at the club, we have given them a bit of stick.

"But it was really good to go away on international duty and take four points and winning against Livingston has capped off a great week.

"I can't believe things have gone so well so quickly. Last season there was a lot of uncertainty over the manager John Robertson and my own future was uncertain but the new manager (George Burley) came in and spoke to me and convinced me that this was the place to be.

"But at the start of the season we never thought we would be sitting at the top of the league having won our first six games.

"The manager has brought some excellent players in and credit has to go to him in the way he has got us playing attacking football and scoring goals."

Livingston player-manager Paul Lambert was scathing of the penalty decision given against the SPL's bottom side when they were 3-1 down which bolted the door on any chance of a comeback.

When Hartley's cross came into the penalty area Livi debutant Neil Barrett was adjudged to have pulled Jamie McAllister's jersey and it was the former Hibs player who slotted the spot-kick away with some confidence.

But an incredulous Lambert said: "I don't mind if our player had put their man up in the air to concede a penalty, but not for that.

"It was 3-1 at the time and we were in the ascendancy."

Taken from sportinglife.com