HEARTS head coach Graham Rix has successfully appealed an FA sanction that prevented him from coaching children unsupervised, the Evening News can reveal today.

English football's governing body has lifted its restriction on Rix which, until recently, stated that the Englishman could not coach under-18s on his own.

After obtaining character references and writing personally to the FA, Rix is now free to coach young boys without guidance.

The sanction was imposed after his criminal conviction in 1999, angering Rix and those closest to him. However, he has now cleared another hurdle in the battle to restore his reputation.

Rix said: "The FA put a restriction on me working with under 18s unsupervised, which I wasn't happy about because it intimated certain things that are totally untrue and not necessary. So I wrote to the FA and appealed against it, and they have now lifted that restriction. I got confirmation of it through the post recently. Naturally, I'm ecstatic and it's a big relief for me."

Rix has told the Evening News of his personal fight to overcome the doubters.

Although he has spent extensive periods out of work in recent years as clubs both north and south of the border refused to take a chance on him, he never lost faith in his coaching and management skills.

"I always thought that, if I got a chance somewhere and I was given time, I had it in me," he added.

Meanwhile, a scan has revealed that defender Jamie McAllister has damaged medial ligaments in his left knee and could be out of action for up to six weeks.

McAllister was injured in a clash with Inverness midfielder Richie Hart on Saturday and is now facing a similar rehabilitation period to Neil McCann, who suffered the same injury on his Hearts debut back in January.

Director of football Jim Duffy said: "At this moment, we aren't sure how badly the ligaments are damaged as you get grades of one, two or three with this type of injury.

"One is the most severe, while three is least severe, so just now we are hoping for two. When we get the full report we will know more but, given that it's a similar situation to Neil McCann, you are talking four to six weeks out."

Hearts captain Steven Pressley, meanwhile, appears to be winning his race to face Rangers.

Pressley was expected back in light training today after being ruled out of action over the past few weeks with a virus.

And, with Rudi Skacel, Edgaras Jankauskas and Robbie Neilson all on the road to recovery, Hearts assistant boss John McGlynn admitted the club could see some light at the end of the tunnel.

He said: "We expect Steven to be back in training today or tomorrow and then it will depend on how he is feeling in himself.

Rudi has already done some light work, as has Edgaras, and we expect Robbie, who took a dead leg against Inverness, to be fit in time for the weekend."

HEARTS' youth development committee will hold their annual sportsman's dinner in Tynecastle's Gorgie Suite on Sunday, March 25.

Tickets for the event are priced at £25 and are available from reception at Tynecastle.

Taken from the Scotsman