Hearts' decline in fortune leaves Hartley bemused

Hearts midfielder Paul Hartley, a target for several Premiership clubs, has admitted to being bemused by the slump in form which has seen them slip off the pace in the Scottish title race following Saturday's 1-0 defeat by Rangers at Ibrox.

Hartley also revealed that he and referee Mike McCurry had warned Saulius Mikoliunas to calm down shortly before he was sent off for a rash challenge on Barry Ferguson.

Hearts have found it difficult to come out of the starting blocks at pace in recent games and that failing was again evident at Ibrox where, after the opening quarter-hour, Rangers exerted their grip on midfield and rarely looked in trouble. The 35th-minute strike by Peter Lovenkrands, which was sufficient to give Rangers their first home win since Oct 22, took the Dane's total to five goals in four games. Lovenkrands' contribution had been foreshadowed by several openings around the Hearts box. Hamed Namouchi saw a flicked header tipped over by Craig Gordon, who also blocked a Chris Burke header at point-blank range.

Matters might have been different had Steven Pressley not looped a close-range header from a Hartley free kick on to the top of the net while the game was scoreless, but thereafter Hearts were unable to test Rangers' rediscovered resolve.

However, their starting selection was almost the same team who, under George Burley, had soared to the top of the league before he was sacked as manager.

Only Takis Fyssas, back in Greece where his wife is due to give birth, was absent, yet Hearts rarely looked the ebullient team they were.

"It's been like that for a couple of weeks now," Hartley said. "We felt we could have played all day and not have scored a goal. In the first 12-14 games of the season we were really free-flowing but now we just look short of confidence.

"The next two weeks are going to be important [Hearts meet Falkirk and Celtic in successive home games] and we have got to try and sort this out. We were blitzing teams earlier in the season but we're not playing well at the moment and not creating enough chances.

"It's not as if we've been asked to change the way we play or change the tempo - it's just happened for some reason or other," Hartley said. "Training has been much the same and it's up to us as players to get the confidence back. The build-up is just too slow."

Hearts' cause was not helped by the dismissal of Mikoliunas, who was twice shown the red card during the explosive end to a Hearts versus Rangers fixture last season, having abused referee Hugh Dallas and barged his assistant, Andy Davis.

Many observers, along with several Tynecastle players, thought that on this occasion the red card was a harsh, but Hartley had seen his midfield colleague heading for a flashpoint. "The ref had a word with Miko before he sent him off and I had a word as well. I don't know if he's become a marked man or if referees have got it in for him, but I didn't think it was a sending-off."

Elsewhere, Kilmarnock stayed a point behind Rangers with their 2-1 victory at Falkirk and the same scoreline saw Hibernian get back on track at home to Motherwell.

The postponement of Dundee United's meeting with Dunfermline at Tannadice because of faulty undersoil heating - the game will now take place tomorrow night - allowed Livingston to improve their position at the foot of the table with a 0-0 home draw with Aberdeen.

Taken from telegraph.co.uk