Hearts physio in charge of fitness

HEARTS interim head coach Valdas Ivanauskas insists physiotherapist Oliver Finlay has the final say on all medical decisions at the club.

The pair met at the team's Riccarton training ground yesterday morning after Lithuanian doctors were reportedly assessing the fitness of players on the advice of majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov.

However, the temporary Tynecastle boss will use Finlay's assessment to decide on the inclusion of players such as Steven Pressley, who has a back injury, for the visit of Celtic on Sunday.

Ivanauskas said: "I talked with Oliver today about Elvis (Steven Pressley) because we need to know if he will be available.

"At the moment, it is unclear and we will see if he can train. We have Oliver and his team dealing with every medical situation.

"Oliver is the boss on the medical side. He has the final say on things, he can explain everything and he has his medical team helping him."

Pressley has not trained this week, but should he be ruled out of this weekend's match, it will not automatically lead to the recall of discarded centre-back Andy Webster.

The Scotland international has been placed on the transfer list with Romanov claiming the head coach did not know if he would give "100 per cent best" for the team before the end of the season after being linked with a move away from Tynecastle.

Ivanauskas added: "I don't know about Webster. There are still three days until the Celtic match so we need to wait. I cannot say what the team will be until nearer the time."

Taken from the Scotsman