PRESTON 1 - Whaley 33
HEARTS 2 - Bednar 15; Mikoliunas 18

THEY could hold their own in the Premiership, was one Preston punter's assessment of Hearts after watching them win at Deepdale yesterday.

More pertinently for those of a Tynecastle disposition, Valdas Ivanauskas's side showed enough quality in sealing a victory through first-half goals from Roman Bednar and Saulius Mikoliunas to suggest they can more than hold their own in the Champions League second-round qualifier that awaits them in 11 days' time.

Either Bosnians Siroki Brijeg or Shakhtor Soligorjk of Belarus - most likely the former - will provide the opposition for that campaign curtain-raiser at Murrayfield. It will follow a final work-out there against Osasuna on Wednesday. In that they will look to build on their showing yesterday after passages reminded us of what made Hearts the second force in Scotland last term.

With a win and two draws during their ten-day stint at an Austrian training camp, their preparations for an intriguing campaign had been no more than toddling along.

But in the early stages against Preston, they provided glimpses of the purpose and power that served them so well last season. Two goals up inside 18 minutes, the only gripe for head coach Ivanauskas was a casual moment from Takis Fyssas 12 minutes from the break that Simon Whaley capitalised on to score.

"We did OK," said the lugubrious Ivanauskas. "We started very well but after that lost a bit of concentration. That is a little bit of a problem. We lost in the last minute of our final game in Austria and another lapse in concentration cost us a goal today. It is not bad. We are working to be at our best on July 26 and I was happy with the standard on our football. Last season was not too easy but maybe we were a bit tired."

Some players may still be feeling the after-effects. Paul Hartley, Edgaras Jankauskas and Davidas Cesnauskis did not feature yesterday because of hamstring tweaks, while Craig Gordon missed out with a groin problem. All but Hartley are expected to be fit for the Champions League encounter. The gaps in midfield created by injuries and the disappearance of soon-to-move-on Rudi Skacel opened the way for 18-year-old Andrew Driver to win a starting role on the right flank against Preston.

Full of clever running, the youngster should have steered the ball into the net when Bednar provided the most inviting cut-back in the sixth minutes. Instead, he slashed an effort wide with goal at his mercy. Otherwise, though, the teenager impressed.

"He was been full-time with the first team through our pre-season in France, then Austria," the Hearts head coach said. "He did well and has the chance to play in the Champions League. But he is young and we must be careful."

Hearts in close season have been a different animal to the club of the past 12 months. In place of the snarling, restless beast has been a rather tame, subdued creature, just at a time when the Tynecastle faithful were looking for their club to be commanding the column centimetres with costly, classy signings for owner Vladimir Romanov to crow over. So far, the only arrival down Gorgie way has been sporting director Eduard Malofeev - not exactly what the fans had in mind.

Yet, slow progress on that front until now was always going to be a cause for mild concern rather than serious fretting. The size of the Hearts squad ensured that. Even one now effectively shorn of Andy Webster and Skacel. Further allaying any unease was the promise that two European internationalists who played in the World Cup will arrive this week.

A total of 1,800 supporters followed Hearts to Preston and it would have tickled the Tynecastle travellers that their team opened the scoring the very second a cry of "Champions League, you are having a laugh" was kicking in from a meagre home support.

The joke was on the Preston defence, who were caught flat-footed when Michal Pospisil pushed a ball down the channel to Bednar with 15 minutes played. The striker, now sporting a convict-like crew cut, bounded inside as if on the run before neatly slipping the ball under Andrew Lonergan.

Three minutes later, the visitors again clinically punished slackness in their opponents' backline. There didn't look a lot on from Mikoliunas when he dispossessed Scotland full-back Graham Alexander on the edge of area, but one jink and one blooter later and Hearts were 2-0 up. The Championship side, losers in the play-off in the past two years under the now-departed Billy Davies, looked a little taken aback by the turn of events.

Playing for what was described by a local radio reporter as "the most talked-about club in Britain last season", Fyssas would have received a talking to from his coach over the Preston counter that returned the confrontation to a contest. His poor clearance was charged down by Whaley, before a fortunate ricochet allowed the midfielder to dart forward and knock the ball past Steve Banks, who flattened him as he did so.

The second half was typically substitute dominated. Portuguese trialist Tiago Costa was the most notable introduction for Hearts, the former Benfica player given a half an hour in place of Fyssas. He didn't have much opportunity to shine on an afternoon when Bednar certainly did. Denied a clear penalty and unlucky to have a thunderous strike ruled out, he was the maroon man most likely, except when Carlo Nash pulled off a wonderful stop from an Ibrahim Tall header.

Taken from the Scotsman