Czech ace's heart to Hearts with boss Rix

AXED Hearts striker Michal Pospisil today insisted he's ready to fight for his place as the Jambos continue their title push.

The former Czech Republic Under-21 international has found himself out in the cold at Tynecastle after just 45 minutes of Graham Rix's reign but has denied newspaper reports he's prepared to quit the club in January after falling out with the former England international.

"I heard about those stories but I don't know where they came from as nobody spoke to me about them," he said.

"Obviously I was disappointed and a little angry at what happened but I want to keep working hard and fight to win back my place in the team." Pospisil arrived at Tynecastle in the summer with glowing praise from George Burley ringing in his ears.

The ex-Hearts boss had splashed out more than £300,000 to prise him away from Slovan Liberec on a three-year deal.

After scoring a superb goal on just his second appearance for the Jambos against Aberdeen in August, things couldn't have been going any better for the highly-rated forward.

However, the shock departure of Burley and the controversial appointment of Rix, below right, as his successor brought a swift change in fortunes.

The former Portsmouth and Oxford boss kicked off his managerial career in Scotland with a testing trip to Pittodrie and handed the attacking responsibility against Aberdeen to Pospisil and Lithuanian Edgar Jankauskas.

However, a dire opening 45 minutes from the visitors forced Rix to act and he swung the axe in the direction of the former Sparta Prague star.

At just 18, Calum Elliot was a surprise introduction from the bench.

And Pospisil was then left kicking his heels in the main stand at Fir Park on Saturday as another poor Hearts performance required a second-half fightback and an injury-time penalty from Paul Hartley to rescue a point against Motherwell.

The Czech ace then found himself turning out for Hearts reserves against Falkirk at a freezing Forthbank Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.

He did manage to lift his mood slightly, though, with one of the goals in a 5-0 rout of the Bairns' second string.

With Jankauskas still toiling to recover from the hamstring injury which ruled him out at the weekend and Roman Bednar still well short of fitness after making his return from a two-month lay-off against the Steelmen, Pospisil is hoping to be in the frame for the the visit of Livingston in two days' time.

"It was important for me to score for the reserves as it helped build up my confidence for my next game, which hopefully might be this weekend," he said.

Rix had a frank discussion with his striker at the club's Riccarton academy yesterday, with the player left in no doubt about the standards expected by his new manager.

"I wanted to play against Motherwell but we have a lot of players and sometimes these things happen in the game," said the frontman.

"The manager spoke to me yesterday about what he wants from me and what I must do better.

"I now know what he wants and that's what I'll be trying to do. Hopefully I can make him happy.

"I don't want to say what we talked about but it is good to speak in such situations and I'm looking forward to trying to win my place back."

Only recently, Pospisil spoke about his ambition of playing for his country in next year's World Cup finals in Germany, Karl Bruckner's Czech Republic side having qualified for the first time as an independent nation.

Such a scenario will remain a distant dream for the forward if he continues to languish in the reserves.

"I want to play for Hearts, I think I can help the team and I want to get back into the side," he said.

"I have a three-year contract with Hearts. I like Edinburgh but I want to play football. I don't care about what people are saying about my future. I care about Hearts and doing well for the team and the supporters."

Although his confidence has been dented by suddenly being jettisoned from the top team, the Czech forward still has faith in his ability to get among the goals at Tynecastle this season.

"I have to admit that it is frustrating at the moment," he said. "But I believe in myself and my ability and it's up to me now to show the manager that I can play and that's my intention."

The return to fitness of compatriot Bednar could make that aim significantly more difficult, with Rix a firm admirer of the powerful striker, who hasn't started a game since injuring his knee after scoring the winner against Rangers in September.

Pospisil, though, is looking forward to the battle for the jersey with his friend.

"It's good to see Roman back. We are friends and it would be good to play alongside him," he said.

"His return will be a boost for the squad as competition for places is always a positive thing for any side, particularly as we want to try to stay at the top of the league."

For vastly different reasons, the duo are hoping to be involved when Paul Lambert brings his relegation-haunted Lions to Tynecastle. The game marks Rix's first home match in charge after two tough road trips and Hearts will be going all out to improve on a recent record which reads just one victory - against Dundee United - from their last four SPL matches.

"It is an important match for us but we are at home and must look to win it," said Pospisil.

"The supporters will be looking for us to take the three points and we have to try to do that."

Teenager Elliot has impressed Rix with his endeavours over the past few weeks and Pospisil reckons his young team-mate, who is still eligible for the youth team, has a bright future in the game.

"I think he is a good talent for the future," he said.

"It is good for him to be playing in the first team just now as he will gain a lot of experience from that.

"Training with the first-team will also be of benefit to him and hopefully he can keep progressing."

Taken from the Scotsman