Jamie waits on Caley call No.2

THE prospect of staying in Inverness throughout this weekend has been heavily debated in the Hearts dressing-room, with Messrs McAllister, Neilson and Berra facing two consecutive matches at the Caledonian Stadium.

Rather than embark upon the soul-less A9 journey twice in three days, the Tynecastle triumvirate considered booking a hotel in the city to bridge the gap between SPL duty with Hearts tomorrow and joining the Scotland Future squad on Monday for their encounter with Turkey on Wednesday.

"We thought we would be meeting up on Sunday so the three of us were just going to stay up there," said McAllister, who has one full Scotland cap to his name. "But we'll come down the road and drive back up on Monday. They could have picked a better place to play it, though."

That comment was made firmly in jest, for McAllister is fully receptive to any offer of football at present. He has played only 43 minutes with the Hearts first team in almost two months, but an opening to the first team may be created by the injury-enforced absence of Rudi Skacel for tomorrow's trip to the Highlands.

The Czech suffered ankle damage at Livingston on Sunday and is rated extremely doubtful to play against Inverness, however, others apart from McAllister are coveting his left-sided berth.

"With such a big squad it's hard for everyone to be involved," said McAllister. "I spoke to the gaffer and he told me to keep doing what I'm doing. That's all I can do. I was in the squad last week, although I didn't get on. I'm in again this week, so maybe I'll start.

"Left midfield is a position I'm well familiar with but it depends if Rudi is fit. I've been working hard in training with that aim in my mind because I've hardly played recently."

Competition for Skacel's role, should he fall short of full fitness, will be provided by McAllister, Saulius Mikoliunas, Mirsad Beslija and Chris Hackett, with Deividas Cesnauskis certain to start on the right flank. McAllister's situation takes on an even more bizarre complexion when you recall him signing a new two-and-a-half-year contract with Hearts as recently as January. Since then he seems to have been placed in cold storage, with the emphasis firmly on cold.

"I signed my new deal and since then I've hardly featured," he said. "I find that disappointing. I'm just waiting to get my chance but it's frustrating. One week I'm in, one week I'm out.

"The first half of this season was good because I think I started about half the games, but since January it's been frustrating, playing mostly in the reserves, which is no good for someone at my age.

"It's not about getting used to it. I don't want to get used to it, and it's a strange thing for myself because at every other club I've been at, I've played almost all the time. Last year here I played in virtually every game when fit, and I've been a first choice everywhere else I've been."

It readily happens that a player who has been forced out onto the periphery of the first-team squad allows his standards to slip. A case in point even exists at Hearts in the shape of the French-Senegalese defender Ibrahim Tall, although it could be argued that he never imposed himself as a central figure to begin with.

McAllister, though, could never be found guilty of such apathy, and has set about regaining favour with head coach Graham Rix in the tenacious manner expected of a consummate professional.

"I've been doing a little extra work to keep me ticking along, and in the reserves you are getting match fitness and sharpness there. When we train, the tempo is always high, so fitness and hunger is there in abundance."

Hearts' last visit to Inverness brought one of those early-season starts for McAllister at a time when he was competently holding down an unfamiliar role on the right of midfield.

Supporters will recall Skacel as the scorer in a 1-0 victory, and the dishevelled nature of the performance that balmy September day may be repeated tomorrow.

Hearts have been specialising in scrappy displays of late. "It wasn't that pretty last time up there but we'd take that result again. You look at last week against Livingston, we weren't great but we still came away with the three points to keep that gap between us and Rangers," said McAllister.

"We haven't been at our best over the last four or five games and it's not great for the purists but, if we are picking up points, then you can't argue. You'd love to play good football all the time but, if you are winning these scrappy games, then it's good enough.

"It's down to the business end of the season now and there is a bit of pressure on the boys. But, come the end of the season, you won't look at the Livingston game and think of the performance. You just look at the points we took from it. The gaffer has stressed that to us.

"It's about grinding out results and winning games from here on in."

There is none better at cultivating a winning mentality than the Hearts captain. Steven Pressley's influence and organisational skills were conspicuous by their absence at Almondvale on Sunday and Hearts will again be required to function without their on-field leader tomorrow.

Pressley's virus is proving to be a problem for the club's medical staff and no-one appreciates the significance of this more than the defenders who have lined up alongside him.

"We missed his initiative last week, although I thought Webby did a brilliant job as captain," says McAllister. "No disrespect to Christophe Berra, who did well coming into the side, but having Elvis on the park is a big influence on the team. He will be missed this week but, hopefully, he gets back into training after the weekend and gets over his illness. We will need him for the big games we have coming up."

Taken from the Scotsman