HEARTS star Roman Bednar has vowed to make up for the disappointment of missing out on the club's Scottish Cup triumph at the weekend by firing them a step closer to Champions League football tonight.

The Czech ace was forced to sit on the sidelines for Sunday's memorable 4-0 thrashing of Capital rivals Hibs after being sent-off in the previous round.
7 Wonders

The striker was dismissed against Partick Thistle for what referee Craig Thomson deemed to be a dive as he rounded Jags goalkeeper Kenny Arthur.

The subsequent suspension ruled him out of arguably the Jambos' biggest game so far this season, a fact still rued by the amiable Bednar.

He could only watch from Hampden's main stand as his team-mates destroyed Hibs for the third time this season courtesy of some breathtaking football.

And after seeing his team-mates bask in the glory of that win, he is determined to have a day to remember of his own by helping Hearts move a step nearer a Champions League spot this evening.

"It was terrible watching, I would much rather be on the pitch but it was my own fault because of the red card against Partick Thistle," said Bednar.

"I'm not a good supporter, I get nervous and I would rather have been on the pitch with the other players.

"I went to the game but all the way there I was thinking 'I wish I could play' but of course I couldn't.

"The atmosphere was unbelievable and the Hearts support was great. Hibs had two empty sections but for Hearts it was full and I think that helped the players to win the match.

"I was very happy with the result as it means maybe I can play in the final now.

"But I am still disappointed that I didn't get to play in the game as 4-0 in the semi-final is incredible. We keep scoring four goals against Hibs which is amazing.

"Now though I would like to help the team to win against Celtic. I couldn't help them against Hibs although after winning 4-0 I'm not sure they needed me!

"But Celtic are a harder team and I would like to help them this time. If I could score and take us nearer to the Champions League it would be absolutely amazing.

"I will be giving 100 per cent if I am picked to play in the match."

Most of the attention for tonight's Parkhead showdown has been on the home side who have the chance to tie up the SPL championship if they can take all three points.

Of course it wasn't so long ago that Hearts were being touted as potential title winners themselves only to fall away since the turn of the year.

They still stand on the verge of making this campaign a historic one, however, with a Scottish Cup final appearance against Gretna on May 13 to look forward to and a genuine shot at the Champions League.

Bednar openly concedes that it's only a matter of time before the Hoops do secure the SPL title - he is just determined to make sure it doesn't happen against Hearts.

"At the start of the season we were thinking that we could finish first but now I think second is more realistic for us," said the Czech striker.

"Celtic have come back very well and the gap they have now is too big to make back with so little matches to play.

"But that doesn't mean that we won't try hard tonight as we still have a lot to play for and to try hard for.

"Nobody wants to watch another team party at the end of the game because they are league champions and we would like to make them wait.

"Not just so they are not champions yet but also because we need the points for ourselves.

"Rangers won at the weekend and are playing very well at the moment so we need to pick up some points.

"We want three points from this match as we want to make it difficult for Rangers to catch us. If we could be six points ahead after the match that would be very good for us.

"One point from the match wouldn't be too bad but we aren't thinking about the draw, we are thinking only about winning.

"It will be hard because Celtic will have 60,000 fans. They are very good in front of their own fans and are a strong team.

"But we already played them earlier this season in Glasgow and drew 1-1 when we probably deserved more. Matches between the teams have been very close because there was also the game on first January when we were 2-0 ahead but lost 3-2.

"I wouldn't say we want revenge for that game as it is in the past and now we are looking to the future but we do want to win the fixture.

"We have played very well against them but only have one point from two games which I don't think is fair. Now we must try to change that."

Much has been made of the fact that rivals Rangers have whittled away Hearts' advantage in second place from 16 points to three, albeit the Jambos still have tonight's game to play.

Various pundits have surmised that this is a sign that Hearts' bottle is going at a crucial time of the season and that it's a matter of when, and not if, Rangers overtake them.

Bednar, though, disagrees and says his side are determined not to allow their slender advantage to be eaten away any further.

"There is a little pressure on us as the advantage was bigger earlier in the season but we have big players who are used to playing in big matches," said the Tynecastle fans' favourite.

"If you said to me 'would you like Rangers' position or Hearts'?' I would say I would take ours every time. It is always better to be ahead and we can go further ahead of them if we can win in Glasgow tonight.

"Maybe we haven't been at our best all the time but we are still winning the race ahead of Rangers and we want to cross the line before they do.

"All the players at the club are very happy after the result against Hibs and I think that will help us. To have such a win against your big rivals makes it easier to go into the next game and win that one as well.

"We played very well against Hibs and the score could have been more than 4-0. If we can play like that between now and the end of the season I would say we will be very difficult to catch.

"We still believe that we can finish second so people can say what they want and write what they want. All that matters is what happens on the pitch.

"Everyone at the club is very focused on what we have to do so we will just play football from now until the end of the season and then we will see who is in the second position and hopefully that will prove to be us."

Taken from the Scotsman