Capital gains suit Bednar

ROMAN BEDNAR today revealed he is "100 per cent certain" the Tennent's Scottish Cup final will not be his last game for Hearts.

The Czech striker is coming to the end of a year-long loan deal from FBK Kaunas but has vowed to extend his stay for at least another season after a meeting with Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov.

The Tynecastle frontman met with Romanov a week ago, the morning after Hearts sealed their Champions League spot with victory over Aberdeen, and is keen to put pen to paper on a new deal during the close season.

Bednar joined the Tynecastle side in July last year when he was loaned out almost immediately after signing for Kaunas from Czech outfit Mlada Boleslav and the towering striker has proved a popular figure with the Hearts support. It seems the feeling is mutual and Bednar said: "I have spoken with Mr Romanov and I am 100 per cent definitely staying at Hearts next season, I am very happy here.

"I have not signed anything yet but I am hoping to do that after the cup final. I love it in Edinburgh and the supporters have been very nice to me since I arrived.

"Before Hearts I had only played in the Czech Republic and I played with a smaller club in a smaller city, Hearts are a larger club and I really like it here. We will also be playing Champions League football next season and that is very important for the club." The 23-year-old striker has clearly taken the Tynecastle club to his heart and will display his affections for them in typical fashion against Gretna in the Scottish Cup final this weekend.

Having sported a Mohican earlier in the season, the Czech is already well known for his eye-catching hairstyles and has come up with another suitably novel way of showing where his allegiances lie by dying his normally brown locks maroon especially for the occasion.

"I have done something a bit different for the cup final and decided to dye my hair the same colour as Hearts," he revealed. "I decided to dye my hair maroon for the cup final this time, I really like it and I am hoping the fans will like it too.

"I only had it done on Wednesday so not many people have seen it but I think they will all laugh. Hopefully it will bring us some good luck."

Victory over Second Division champions Gretna tomorrow would see Hearts reclaim the Scottish Cup for the first time since 1998 and it would also earn Bednar the first medal of his fledgling career after a fruitless three years with Boleslav in his homeland.

Bednar is hoping he can finally break that duck with Hearts but, more importantly, is determined to win the cup to repay the supporters, who have backed him and his team-mates to the hilt this season.

He said: "I have not won any trophies before so winning this one would be very special because it would be my first one.

"I am still young so the whole of this season has been very special for me because Hearts have made so much progress. It has been a very exciting time for everyone at the club and of course I am very excited about the game - who isn't? The whole city is talking about it and it is good to be involved.

"It is the last game of the season for us and a very big game, it is important that we win it for the fans. At the start of the season, everyone wanted us to finish in first or second position in the league and we have done that, now everyone is working very hard to add the cup to that.

"I think that it is very important that we can also win some silverware because it has been a long time since Hearts last won a trophy. For the supporters it is very important that we win this cup so it is also very important for the players."

Bednar has never played at Hampden, having missed out on the 4-0 semi-final win over Hibs because of suspension - a red card in the previous round's 2-1 win over Partick Thistle relegating him to a seat in the stand.

He is expected to lead the line at Hampden, alongside Edgaras Jankauskas, and is relishing the thought of running out in front of a sell-out crowd at the national stadium, most of them Hearts supporters: "This will be the first time I have played at Hampden, I missed the semi-final against Hibs last month because I was suspended and it was very difficult to watch that match from the stand, if you are not playing then you are unhappy. But we got a good result and that is the most important thing. Someone told me that there are going to be 35,000 Hearts supporters at Hampden tomorrow and I think that is amazing. They are very noisy at Tynecastle but there will be more of them at the game tomorrow so it will be a very good atmosphere."

Hearts' opponents at Hampden tomorrow have won themselves an army of fans thanks to their performances in the cup so far this season and Bednar admits that he too has been impressed by Rowan Alexander's shock troops having watched their 3-0 semi-final win over Dundee on television.

However, Bednar is also aware that, if they are on their game, the quality which runs through the Hearts side should be enough to secure the club's first piece of silverware in eight years. have watched Gretna on television a couple of times this year," he said. "They are a good team and they deserve credit for what they have achieved. I think they won the league by a lot of points over the team in second place and they are going into the First Division next season. We know they have got good players but we have to be confident if all of our players go out and give 100 per cent."

The amiable Czech is clearly loving life at Hearts right now and puts their success down to the fact that the players have created a real family atmosphere at the club and he believes that has played an important part in maintaining performance levels during a season of change at Tynecastle.

He admitted: "We have had a lot of changes of manager this season and that has been difficult for the players but we have still managed to finish second in the league and now we are in the final of the cup as well despite everything that has happened.

"I think that everything that has happened has made the team a lot stronger and we are just like a family now."

Taken from the Scotsman