Bednar faces second knee operation

HEARTS striker Roman Bednar is facing the prospect of knee surgery for the second time this season.

The 22-year-old former Czech Republic Under-21 internationalist, who hasn't played since the Edinburgh club's defeat to Rangers at Ibrox in mid-December, underwent an operation in Leeds on 28 September after damaging his knee against the same opposition.

He admitted yesterday he is no closer to a top-team return, and could have surgery as early as next week after suffering a recurrence of the injury in training.

Bednar has scored three goals in ten starts for the Tynecastle outfit this season, and his absence was highlighted by head coach Graham Rix as one of the key reasons for Hearts' indifferent form in November and December.

The forward was brought to Hearts on a one-year loan deal by former manager George Burley, who hailed Bednar as "the best young striker I have ever worked with", but is not currently training with the first-team squad.

Jamie McAllister yesterday agreed a new deal to remain at Tynecastle until the summer of 2008, and revealed he had resisted the temptation of a move to England in order to play his part in Hearts' dual push for the SPL and Scottish Cup trophies.

McAllister, who joined Hearts in the summer of 2004 from Livingston, lifted the CIS Cup with the West Lothian side, and clearly harbours strong ambitions to build on his medal collection.

"I'm delighted to get the contract signed, and I can concentrate on playing football," said the 27-year-old.

"I was very tempted by what else was on offer, but my main priority was always to stay here. I had one or two offers over the weekend, and I think the club had some approaches at that time as well, but I spoke to the gaffer and he said I was part of his plans.

"There were a lot of factors that made me stay here. The fact that we are still in the cup and have our best chance in a while of winning the league was obviously a big one for me. It's a superb place to be at the moment and signing a player this week of the calibre of Neil McCann shows the ambition this club has."

Stoke and Watford are among the clubs who were credited with a strong interest in McAllister, while Dunfermline also attempted to sign the former Aberdeen player last August.

McAllister seems unperturbed by strong competition for places on the left side of Rix's team, with Takis Fyssas, Lee Wallace, Rudi Skacel and McCann all part of the Hearts squad.

He has operated at right midfield in recent matches, and scored his first goal of the season in Hearts' 2-1 Tennent's Scottish Cup victory over Kilmarnock earlier this month, yet McCann's arrival and the consistent form of Fyssas means that the Scotland Future cap may be limited to a bit-part role as Hearts continue their quest for honours this season.

He added: "England was an attractive option, but my wife Ashley is pregnant so I didn't want to move house and have to uproot my family."

McAllister twisted an ankle during Hearts' 3-0 reserve win over Hibs on Tuesday, but will resume training today and will be in the squad for tomorrow's meeting with Kilmarnock.

Taken from the Scotsman