On their way

HEARTS assistant coach John McGlynn has conceded that January signings Martin Petras and Ludek Straceny may not have a future at the club after less than six months in the Capital.

The duo, who were two of 11 new faces signed during the January transfer window, have featured only a handful of times between them, making virtually no impact at Tynecastle.

Both players arrived in Scotland with a decent pedigree, particularly 26-year-old Petras, who is a regular in the Slovakian national team and captained Sparta Prague earlier in his career. Straceny, meanwhile, has won two caps for the Czech Republic and has featured in the UEFA Cup.

Petras, though, has managed just four starts since signing on a six-month loan deal from FBK Kaunas while Straceny, on a similar deal, has fared even worse starting only once. And, with the club having to decide whether to extend their stay in Gorgie in the coming weeks, McGlynn admitted they may have played their last game for the Jambos.

"It's difficult because the squad is so big," he revealed.

"I think with them being on loan deals we would have to decide whether they are even here next year.

"If they are they would really need to come back and have a very, very good start to the season to have any chance of getting their faces back into the team. They came in during the January transfer window and it's fair to say that they didn't really flourish."

The players made their debut in February's trip to face Dundee United at Tannadice when it transpired that club owner Vladimir Romanov, and not boss Graham Rix, had picked the team.

Both Straceny and Petras looked some way short of match fitness and couldn't do enough in the remainder of the season to hold down a regular place.

Meanwhile, Hearts will take their time to ensure the right people are brought into the club as manager and director of football.

Although Valdas Ivanauskas remains the front runner to be installed as head coach on a full-time basis, Romanov's spokesman said:

"Mr Romanov has always been of the view that it will be the right person in the right time."

Taken from the Scotsman