HEARTS were still sweating on the fitness of Steven Pressley today as new fears emerged that he may miss tomorrow's Edinburgh derby.

The Tynecastle skipper did not join his team-mates for training yesterday as had been hoped, although he did take part in an indoor session. He was due to be assessed at the club's Riccarton training academy today but coach John McGlynn admitted that it would take until the last minute to make a decision on whether he is involved at Easter Road or not.

However, he insisted that, if Pressley does miss out, the club has already proved it has players more than capable of replacing the centre-half. He said: "Because he is our captain and the leader of the team it would obviously be a big blow if Steven was unavailable but we have had to cope with that situation in a few games recently.

"We are still hoping that he will be able to play, he didn't train with the team yesterday but he did do some work indoors and we will have to assess him today to see if he has had any kind of reaction to that. We won't know until the last minute, so it will be a late decision on whether he plays or not.

"We've had a number of players out recently, though, Steven missed the games against Celtic and Kilmarnock, and the players that have come in have done a good job in their absence.

"The team have only lost one goal in their last four games, despite the changes we've had to make and keeping clean sheets is great for your defenders' and goalkeeper's confidence."

Hearts currently enjoy a five-point advantage over third-placed Rangers and know they can stretch that to eight with victory tomorrow.

Despite that cushion, McGlynn insisted that Hearts cannot afford to drop points at this stage as they want to make mathematically sure of second place in the SPL table with matches to spare.

He added: "I don't think that we can afford to take our eye off the ball at all at this stage.

"We want to get the job finished as quickly as we possibly can. The quicker we can get over that finishing line, the better, and the quicker we can enjoy the rest of the season.

"The finishing line for us is getting into a position where we are mathematically sure of clinching second place.

"Derbies can only be taken as individual games, the last one won't have any say in how this one goes.

"It is all down to how the players perform on the day, so it is important that we remain focused." Around 600 Hearts supporters will be able to watch the match at Tynecastle tomorrow as it is being beamed back live to the Gorgie stadium.

Meanwhile, the club revealed last night that they have already sold 25,000 tickets for next month's Scottish Cup final.

Briefs for the match against Second Division champions Gretna have been selling like hot cakes - at a rate of 350 per hour - and the Tynecastle club have been delighted by the response from supporters.

A spokesman said: "The last time we played in front of 30,000 Hearts supporters was in the cup final against Aberdeen in 1986. Hearts sold 41,500 tickets for a game watched by 62,841 that day.

"We're thrilled so many people want to be part of the cup final experience this time round.

"We would encourage our season ticket holders to complete a postal application or book seats online as soon as possible."