Wallace's pride at new deal

HEARTS defender Lee Wallace today spoke of his pride at securing a five-year contract at Tynecastle.

The teenager returned from Scotland Under-19 duty on Sunday to be presented with a new deal that keeps him at the club until 2011.

He immediately departed yesterday morning for Mostar with the rest of his colleagues and is likely to take his place on the substitutes' bench this evening in the Pecara Stadium.

Wallace said: "I knew about my new contract before pre-season but I didn't sign it until Monday. It is great for all the young players at Hearts to know that the club values us. Maybe in the not too distant future there will be a core of the Hearts side containing guys like myself, Calum Elliot, Jamie Mole and Andy Driver. That is what we would like."

The Hearts majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov has recently made it clear that he wants to see the club's youth blooded in the first team.

Wallace, understandably, is keen to fulfil the desires of his principal paymaster.

It has been a hectic summer for the left-back as he has jetted around Europe to Austria, Poland and now Bosnia-Herzegovina.

He added: "I think I've only slept for two nights in my own bed in the last month but it has been worth it. My parents, whom I live with, are only too happy to have me out the house when I am playing for Scotland and appearing with Hearts in the Champions League.

"That is what every young footballer would like and I intend to continue now that I have the security of a new five-year deal.

"It is great for all of us young players to be handed five-year contracts. It shows that Mr Romanov has a commitment to the young players at the club even though we all know he has enough money to bring in plenty of players from abroad."

Wallace didn't play for Hearts in the first leg against Siroki Brijeg at Murrayfield last week but was keeping a close eye on the score line from his base with the Scotland squad in Poland.

He said: "I knew what was going on and it was disappointing not to be part of it but the experience I picked up with Scotland will be invaluable.

"When I returned to Scotland I phoned John McGlynn immediately to see if I would be involved here in Bosnia. He said I was likely to travel so that was a nice surprise to come home to. Now I hope we can get the right result tonight and progress."

Taken from the Scotsman