Stars out but Hearts won't rest on laurels

IT IS almost unheard of for Hearts to be preparing for a trip to Ibrox and not requiring a result from the match to preserve their position above Rangers in the SPL.

That is the reality for Valdas Ivanauskas and his players after their dramatic midweek victory over Aberdeen, which secured an insurmountable four-point gap over Rangers before the Edinburgh club visit on the season's final day tomorrow.

Were the story of Hearts' season proposed as a script for a soap opera, it would have been instantly laughed out of the producer's office. Yet this is not fiction, it is reality, one that the players are slowly managing to absorb after the events of Wednesday evening.

The vision and mental determination imparted by Ivanauskas during his short period as interim head coach has been wholeheartedly taken on by the squad and, consequently, the main characters in this utterly engrossing plot will be granted a leave of absence tomorrow in preparation for the Scottish Cup final.

Yet the sabbaticals of senior team members like Steven Pressley, Craig Gordon and Edgaras Jankauskas will not be accepted as excuses should Rangers inflict defeat upon those who were promoted in their place. Ivanauskas, whilst acknowledging his side have little to play for, is still not willing to invite mediocrity from anyone.

"Of course the result is not going to be the most important thing to come out of the Rangers game, but I don't want to end this fantastic season in defeat," he said.

"Some players have little injuries after the Aberdeen game, but, for some of them, we just have to rest them because they have played in so many matches for us. We are going to Ibrox with a good passing team and our target is to win.

"Steven Pressley is going to be rested because, although he has had a break, he played in two big games for us against Celtic and Aberdeen. We will be cautious with the rest of the players because every injury or yellow or red card could be costly for us.

"It is going to be a full stadium at Ibrox and it is the last game of the season. The team should be ready for that."

Amongst those in contention to play are Lee Wallace, Calum Elliot, Michal Pospisil, Nerijus Barasa and Mirsad Beslija. Hearts fans have responded warmly to Barasa in particular, despite him making only three substitute appearances since arriving from Krylya Sovetov Samara in January.

However it can be safely assumed that their intrigue will be more centred around any possible contribution from their club's record signing, Beslija.

The Bosnian winger has made just one more appearance than Barasa for Hearts despite the Lithuanian suffering persistent hamstring trouble and therefore supporters have begun to question the merits of his signing from the Belgian club Racing Genk for £800,000.

"Mirsad is in the squad," continued Ivanauskas. "When a player comes to a new country he is in high spirits emotionally and is striving for something but with Beslija his performance level fell after a short time. It was not good, but now he is showing good progress again and we hope he will maintain this.

"I am aware that Beslija cost a lot of money but no matter the player, the money cannot change him. It won't make him play better, that is only down to his character and personality."

As Ivanauskas focused almost solely on tomorrow, midfielder Bruno Aguiar was looking ahead to the Champions League qualifying rounds. The Portuguese, pictured left, has been there before but failed to progress during his time with boyhood idols Benfica.

Aguiar, along with his Tynecastle colleague Takis Fyssas, was eliminated in the third qualifying round at the hands of Anderlecht two years ago. However, he rates his chances of qualification for the 2006 group stages of the tournament considerably higher.

"I think I will be very happy after the summer," said Aguiar. "Wednesday night was one of the best days of my career and I believe I will play in the group stages with Hearts. The team has very good mentality and quality.

"It is very important for me to play in this competition because it is very prestigious. I believe will be okay. I remember playing and losing against Anderlecht and I don't want to repeat that kind of experience, and I don't think I will.

"I took the decision to come here because I believe Hearts are getting better and better. Each year they will progress."

Taken from the Scotsman