Pospisil's goal is to keep place

THROUGH all the chopping and changing of the Hearts side in the last seven days, Michal Pospisil has remained a constant, his scoring ratio of six goals to 11 league starts clearly impressing someone at Tynecastle.

Who that is remains open to conjecture at the end of a week when Vladimir Romanov is thought to have selected the side for the midweek draw at Tannadice. Undoubtedly, head coach Graham Rix would consider Pospisil's potency as a valued weapon in his armoury.

Would Romanov? Perhaps the team sheet for tomorrow's SPL match with Aberdeen will reveal the answer.

Pospisil has found it difficult to escape the intense media scrutiny this week since Rix admitted to his players on Tuesday that he no longer has the final say on team selection.

The Czech reads the newspapers like most others in the dressing room, and harbours the same reservations about having the club owner influencing the starting XI. But tomorrow Pospisil gets the chance to escape the uncertainty and focus solely on football when Aberdeen come calling for the second time in seven days.

The 26-year-old opened his Hearts goalscoring account in the previous league encounter with Jimmy Calderwood's side at Tynecastle back in August, when he curled home a decisive and quite brilliant second in a 2-0 victory.

His entrance that day was as a 78th-minute substitute for Roman Bednar, and a return to the bench for Pospisil tomorrow cannot by dismissed given the sweeping changes ordered by Romanov against Dundee United.

Whilst remaining open to the prospect, particularly in view of the expansive squad gathered by the club's majority shareholder, Pospisil has something in his mind he wants to atone for from midweek.

"I had a great chance in the first half against Dundee United and I was disappointed," he said. "I thought about it after the game. Ludek [Straceny] gave me a good pass but it came so quickly and I didn't have much time, and the ball ended up going through my legs. It was unlucky.

"Of course, I was glad I played. It depends on each game who is in the team. Two weeks ago I didn't play against Hibs so I was disappointed, and this week I have played in both our matches. I want to keep my place in the side. Last Saturday I played well so I held my place in the starting 11 on Tuesday and we drew 1-1.

"Dundee United played very well and used the surroundings to their advantage. There was a lot of fight from both teams but not much football. We couldn't take control and play our passes. There were a lot of 50-50 challenges and they scored first which was very important. Another reason we didn't play so well was the pitch, which was not in good condition.

"We have had a very busy week and sometimes that is not a problem. I like having a lot of games. For players, it is usually better to play games than train, so this can be good."

Not only have Hearts been scheduled with three awkward fixtures in the last seven days, two of them are against an unpredictable Aberdeen side. After going down 3-0 at Tynecastle in the Scottish Cup last Saturday, Calderwood roused his players to defeat Rangers at Pittodrie on Wednesday.

"In my experience this usually makes it more difficult," said Pospisil. "You are playing twice against the same opponent and you are familiar with each other. But I think we have been in this situation before with a lot of matches close together and we have won, so we know it is simple for us. If we win, we stay in the title race.

"I think Aberdeen will be more determined after last week. They will be disappointed because they could have had a penalty against us. Sometimes you get those decisions and sometimes referees will make some mistakes. This has gone for Hearts and against Hearts in the past.

"We must be ready for a fight against Aberdeen because they will be very eager."

They will also have viewed events in the Capital from afar and are likely to have derived some encouragement from the upset caused by Romanov's interventions. A Hearts dressing room which is looking to question the decisions of their employer does not make for a place completely tuned to football.

Romanov insisted on deploying recent signings Martin Petras and Straceny at Tannadice, and whilst most of the travelling support would have been forgiven for questioning exactly who these people were given that they have yet to be publicly unveiled by the club, Pospisil has some insight.

"I played with Ludek in Prague at Viktoria Zizkov for two years so I know him well. His standard of play is very good. His strengths are his passing and crossing and he usually plays right midfield. He is a very offensive player and he can help Hearts because he is quality. I can help him to settle here. I am fortunate because I can speak English so it is no problem for me. He is learning the language."

Pospisil goes on to reveal that his interest in Scotland and Edinburgh's culture has lead him to be an avid Evening News customer. "I buy it almost every afternoon to read about football, about Edinburgh and about the city stories. I think it has good football coverage and helps me to identify with Edinburgh."

Regardless of who selects the Hearts side tomorrow, and who they opt to start with, midfielder Julien Brellier will definitely be absent after his red card on Tayside. The suspended Frenchman has returned to his homeland to spend the weekend with family.

And there will, of course, be a familiar face amongst the visitors. Neil MacFarlane is available to Calderwood after being cup-tied last week. "It will feel strange going back to Tynecastle after I had so many brilliant times there. I find it a very strange rule that stopped me playing last week but I'll be doing my best for Aberdeen.

"The Hearts boys have had plenty going on this week but in my time there we always had something to contend with. I think you get used to it. They have a great team spirit in the dressing room and I hope they sort out the problems at the club because I have a lot of friends there."

He will be endeavouring to help his new club beat his old one tomorrow, and how glad MacFarlane will feel at not being embroiled in the Hearts team selection saga any longer.

Taken from the Scotsman