Pressley: we are prepared

HEARTS captain Steven Pressley today insisted his side are better prepared than ever before to face the rigours of the season ahead.

The Tynecastle squad have endured a gruelling pre-season regime, being put through their paces in the south of France before a four-game tour of Austria earlier this month.

The preparations for the new campaign culminated in this week's second-round, first leg Champions League qualifier against Siroki Brijeg at Murrayfield, a match the Jambos won 3-0.

Having also faced Osasuna at the same venue a week earlier, the progression towards full match-fitness was clear to see and Pressley paid tribute to coaches Valdas Ivanauskas and John McGlynn and to fitness coach Tom Ritchie for the hard work they have put in to making sure the team's pre-season regime paid off.

He said: "Our preparation this season has been excellent and I think that Valdas Ivanauskas, John McGlynn and Tom Ritchie must take great credit for that.

"I think they have put together a very strong programme for us and the players are looking stronger with every game that we play and I think it is a very exciting time to be a player or supporter at the club."

The squad's fitness and determination to improve on last season's performance was illustrated perfectly in the comfortable 3-0 victory over Bosnians Siroki Brijeg, an own goal and further second-half strikes from Ibrahim Tall and Roman Bednar giving the Tynecastle side the perfect advantage to take over to Bosnia next week.

Played out in front of almost 30,000 supporters at the ground which will become their European home from home this season, it was Hearts' biggest home crowd in 46 years and Pressley added: "It was a fantastic experience for the supporters and for the players as well. We had over 28,000 fans at Murrayfield and there is the potential for a bigger crowd if we can make it into the next round and draw a really big team.

"The thought of how many people we could attract to the stadium against a big team is mouthwatering. We're not thinking that far ahead right now, though, there is still a job in hand to be done."

Wednesday night's victory over Ivica Barbaric's men means the Jambos are now almost assured of their place in the next round alongside the likes of AC Milan, Arsenal and CSKA Moscow. However, Pressley insisted that Hearts could not bank on their progress into the third-round qualifiers despite their three-goal cushion.

He added: "We have to show professionalism in the away leg but obviously, beforehand, we would have been delighted to settled for a 3-0 lead going into that game.

"One of the most important considerations for us was that we didn't lose an away goal and that our concentration remained good at all times.

"Its good to have the lead but the job certainly isn't over yet.

"We didn't manage to score in the first half but we kept going, the most important thing was to win the game and not concede an away goal, whether that took 80 or 90 minutes to happen was not a concern for us."

The opening goal, when it did materialise, was courtesy of Siroki's Andre Silva, the ball glancing off the player's head and into the net from Robbie Neilson's long throw-in.

Three minutes after that goal, Michal Pospisil was introduced to play, Neil McCann making way, and the Czech striker is hoping he will be able to get his name on the scoresheet this season and, more importantly, into Ivanauskas' starting line-up for the forthcoming SPL campaign.

Pospisil made just 13 starts for the Tynecastle men last season and a further 11 appearances came from the bench but, having linked up well with Bednar against Preston last week, he's keen to stake his claim for a place this term.

Hearts' opening game of the season is against Dunfermline at East End Park and Pospisil is hoping his record against the Pars will help swing the balance in his favour tomorrow.

The Tynecastle hitman netted in each of the sides' three league meetings last term, scoring four times against Jim Leishman's men and said: "We have a full programme right now but I am glad because we are playing games. We have a big squad so I hope there will be opportunities for other players like me who aren't in the starting team right now. I want to play." And he laughed: "I scored four goals against Dunfermline last season and, yes, they were a lucky team for me. Tell the manager that I must play tomorrow!"

Pospisil was delighted to be involved in Champions League action, albeit only for the final half-hour of the game against Siroki, coincidentally a period of the match which Hearts controlled.

He knows that only a spectacular collapse in Bosnia next week can deny Hearts their place in the third-round qualifier but insisted there was still some work to be done, adding: "This tie isn't finished yet with Siroki Brijeg. We still have to play away and that could be a totally different game. We must prepare for it and be professional because it's a massive competition and we want to be ready.

"It's a good result for a first-leg match. We have kept a clean sheet at home, which is important, and we have scored three goals which is a good advantage for the second leg.

"There was a big difference in us from first half to second half. We started well for the first ten minutes or so of the game but we didn't score. Then both teams tried to keep possession and Siroki Brijeg became a little more confident.

"In the second half we played better. There was more movement from us, better pressure, passing and finally we scored the first goal which helped us a lot. The second goal then became very important and we had the confidence at that time.

"I think we controlled the game over the last 20 minutes.

"They [Valdas and McGlynn] weren't too happy with the first half but they said there was no panic and no rush because there was still a second half to be played. They just asked us to continue with our game but work harder."

Despite the fact that this was Hearts' maiden voyage into Champions League football - and indeed their first competitive action of the new season - a small section of the home support jeered the team as the half-time whistle was blown with the scoreline still blank but Pospisil insisted it was simply a case of frustration getting the better of some fans.

"Each player reacts differently. I know it was a massive game and the supporters always want us to go through. We want the same and this happens sometimes."

Taken from the Scotsman