Magical Mikoliunas fires Hearts in warm-up for Europe

Pressley was withdrawn at half time as a precaution after some typically robust aerial challenges threatened his health, while Gordon failed to take his place in goal due to a groin injury, although head coach Valdas Ivanauskas is hopeful he will return for Wednesday night’s friendly against Osasuna at Murrayfield. “We are still working hard until July 26,” said Ivanauskas, referring to Hearts’ first-ever appearance in the Champions League. “Fitness is much, much better. We can play some good football.”

It was immediately evident that Hearts were a good deal further down the road towards full competition than Preston, who do not begin their Coca-Cola Championship campaign until August 5. Young midfielder Andrew Driver had already missed from close range and Bednar had tested Andrew Lonergan in Preston’s goal when Hearts took the lead after a quarter of an hour. Bednar latched onto a perfectly weighted pass from fellow Czech Pospisil to stroke the ball nonchalantly home through Lonergan’s legs.

If new Preston manager Paul Simpson was alarmed by his defence’s failure to track Bednar’s run, he would have been dismayed by the ease with which Mikoliunas squirmed away from three attendant defenders to ram the second goal beyond Lonergan just four minutes later.

Preston eventually found their feet with Danny Dichio and Danny Pug probing the Hearts defence, and Simon Whaley pulled a goal back when he bundled a bouncing ball past a foot-first challenge from deputy goalkeeper Steve Banks. “Concentration lost us a last-minute goal (in a friendly) in Austria and, today, I’d say we lost another concentration goal,” was Ivanauskas’s verdict.

Pressley’s withdrawal at half time was the first of seven changes that fractured the second half, although Pospisil and Driver remained impressive until taking their leave in the final quarter of the match. The most notable substitution came in the removal of left-back Takis Fyssas for Tiago Costa, a trialist from Benfica, to make an appearance. His attempt from 30 yards in the last minute smacked of ambition, which should sit well with owner Vladimir Romanov if signing negotiations follow.

STAR MAN: Michal Pospisil (Hearts)

Player ratings. Preston: Lonergan 5 (Nash h-t, 5), Wilson 6, Alexander 4, Jarrett 7, Mawene 7, Chivers 6 (Sedgwick 64min, 5), Whaley 8, McKenna 7, Dichio 7 (Agyemang h-t, 7), Nugent 6 (Stock 71min, 4), Pugh 6

Hearts: Banks 5, Neilson 7, Fyssas 5 (Trialist 52min, 5), Pressley 6 (Tall h-t, 6), Berra 7, Brellier 6 (Johnston 66min, 5), Driver 8 (Beslija 71min, 5), Mikoliunas 7, Bednar 7 (Makela 78min, 6), Aguiar 6 (Neill 74min, 5), Pospisil 8 (Mole 74min, 5)

Scorers: Preston: Whaley 33

Hearts: Bednar 14, Mikoliunas 19

Referee: C Foy

Taken from timesonline.co.uk