Pressley in no mood to give up on mean streak

The 17,000 fans who have tickets for Tynecastle on New Year’s Day would not sell them for love nor money. Heart of Midlothian’s crucial encounter with Celtic has had both sets of supporters searching for weeks to be part of the audience. Even though the game between the Bank of Scotland Premierleague’s two top sides is live on television, it has not diluted the desire to be there.

The security arrangements around the Castle may be tough to crack but they pale into insignificance when set against the barrier that is the Hearts defence. Craig Gordon’s back four have conceded just 13 goals in 20 games, the meanest in the Premierleague and if the plaudits and headlines have gone to the top scorer, Rudi Skacel, and the playmaker, Paul Hartley, this season, then the unsung heroes are Gordon & Co.

The back four of Robbie Neilson, Andy Webster, Steven Pressley and Takis Fyssas are the rock upon which the Edinburgh side’s title challenge has been built. They even managed to survive doing without Gordon the last time the sides met — the Scotland goalkeeper was suspended for the 1-1 draw at Celtic Park in October — but this time he will be a key contributor as Graham Rix’s side bid to cut into the leaders’ four-point advantage.

No one is prouder of those vital defensive statistics than Pressley, the Hearts captain and a colleague of both Gordon and Webster with Scotland. “We have lost just 13 goals in 20 games this season, which is by far the best defensive record in the league,” Pressley said.

“It is a record we are proud of and if you don’t lose goals, you don’t lose games. That’s not down to just the back four and the goalkeeper. Far from it. Strong defensive teams are teams who work as a unit, as a whole. That’s what we have done this season and our pressure on the ball has been first class and that allows the defenders to get tight on people.

“We are proud of that and proud of the fact that we have lost just two goals at Tynecastle in the league this season. That is a very positive statistic and we should have a lot of belief going into the game with Celtic.”

Hearts recovered from a morale-sapping defeat to Rangers at Ibrox a fortnight ago to defeat Falkirk 5-0 on Boxing Day. The latter result took some of the pressure off Rix, whose early tenure since replacing George Burley has been modest in comparison.

“We got back to what we do best and that is the basics of football,” Pressley said. “That is something we do particularly well, and if we play with the same intensity, I’m confident that results will follow.

“There were a number of issues we all wanted to discuss and the manager wanted to clarify everything. We are a very good team if we do the basics well and I think we proved that in the game against Falkirk.”

After conjuring up such stylish football throughout the season, Hearts’ flat spell under Rix had prompted fears of a costly dip in form. Pressley, though, feels his team are not the only ones to suffer that fate, noting that Celtic, Hibernian and Rangers were equally troubled.

“For 14 or 15 games we have played probably the best football I have been involved in at this club and produced some first-class performances,” he said. “However, it’s not just ourselves who have experienced a difficult few games. Celtic themselves have slipped up a number of times in recent weeks and nobody has managed to put together a sustained positive run of results. We are delighted to have got back on track and have set ourselves up nicely for the game against Celtic.

“We have been searching for a wee while for that type of performance and we have to remember how we got it. That was by going back to doing the basics properly and if we can continue to do that then we’ll be a difficult side to beat.”

With two home games over the festive period, Hearts have the ideal opportunity to do themselves a favour in the title race. The knowledge that they matched Celtic in Glasgow and defeated Rangers at Tynecastle in September has sent ambitions soaring.

“I said that the Falkirk and Celtic games would have a huge bearing on our season, and having taken care of the first one, we can now look forward to the challenge awaiting us on New Year’s Day,” Pressley said. “Our performances against Celtic have been extremely good in recent seasons and we should be going into the game confident that we can get a result.

“We have beaten Rangers at Tynecastle already this season and were slightly unfortunate not to beat Celtic at Parkhead. I thought we gave a very assured performance that day and there should be no negative thoughts going into this game. We have just won 5-0 and have a fantastic opportunity this weekend.”

Rix is confident that Roman Bednar, the forward, will be fit for the occasion. The Czech Republic under-21 striker missed the Falkirk match with a hamstring injury and his replacement, Calum Elliott, scored twice.

“Roman wasn’t quite fit for the game, but he is getting better every day,” Rix said yesterday. “I would imagine he has a real chance for the weekend. I am not going to play Roman if he is not 100 per cent right.

“I am hopeful he will be fine the Celtic match but the way we played against Falkirk was fantastic. That is the standard we have set for ourselves and we now have competition for places up front, which is what every manager wants.”

Taken from timesonline.co.uk