DON'T JUDGE US ON IBROX SLUMP

STEVEN PRESSLEY insists there is no need for Hearts to panic despite an unconvincing start to the new campaign.

Last season's SPL shock-troops went down to a tame 2-0 defeat against Rangers on Saturday and now face elimination from the Champions League qualifiers against AEK Athens this week.

The Tynecastle outfit have managed just two wins from their first five competitive games but captain Pressley is adamant this turbulent start to the season is not an indication his side are on the slide.

Pressley was hugely disappointed with the performance of his side at Ibrox but remained defiant afterwards when he said: "You can look at things too deeply but we came here top of the league after taking seven points from nine.

"We had made a good start to the campaign but today we didn't play to the levels we are capable of.We didn't show the composure or the belief we should have done because we have a hell of a lot of good players in the team and we have to believe that.

"We started the game extremely well and played the first 20 minutes as I know we can - with real belief, purpose and tempo.

"I really felt we'd go on to win the game but we have to give Rangers credit because they played extremely well.

"We now have to concentrate on getting our season back on track. There is nothing to panic about. We made a good start prior to coming here today but the next two games are home games and they will be very important in terms of our progress this season."

And yet Pressley admitted Hearts were a huge disappointment at Ibrox after forcing Rangers keeper Lionel Letizi into just one serious save throughout a one-sided affair. He added: "Overall we must do better than that. I believe we are a far better side than we showed today.

"Sometimes you have to go back to the basics, become a difficult side to beat and an ugly side to play against. I felt we were too easy to play against today."

The result has cast serious doubt over the future of manager Valdas Ivanauskas -the latest in a line of appointments by the club's trigger happy owner Vladimir Romanov.

Romanov bulleted George Burley last season despite Hearts getting off to a flying start to the campaign and then followed up that shock sacking with the removal of replacement boss Graham Rix.

Curiously, neither Romanov nor his son Roman - the Hearts chairman - were at Ibrox on Saturday as the Jambos went down to a crushing defeat.

Romanov's aides revealed the Russian was in Monte Carlo for the weekend and insisted he will be in Greece to watch the second leg of Hearts' Champions League qualifier against AEK Athens as they attempt to overturn a 2-1 defeat at Murrayfield.

Ivanauskas - who has already been sacked once by Romanov during their days together at FC Kaunas - is now under severe pressure to produce a miraculous recovery in the second leg.

Saturday's defeat leaves Ivanauskas hanging by a thread but he seemed somewhat bullish afterwards even if he could feel the walls closing in.

He said: "Congratulations to Rangers. They were a clever team - especially in the second half. I was happy with our first-half performance.

"We had chances and did well but we lost concentration at the start of the second half and that is not possible in games like this.

"After that we became frustrated and we lost our discipline." On a dismal day for the Edinburgh side, the one piece of good news was the return to action of talisman Paul Hartley who came off the bench 20 minutes from time to make his first appearance of the season.

Even although Hartley is desperately short of match fitness he may now come into contention for a starting place in the return leg against AEK.

Ivanauskas said: "It's great, great news to have Paul Hartley back. He's not ready for 90 minutes which is normal after being out for so long but he's an important part of the team and I am happy he's back."

The Jamb os were handed a boost ahead of Wednesday's match in Athens as AEK stuttered to a 0-0 draw with PAOK Salonika at home in their first game of the season.

The Greek SuperLiga title holders made five changes from the side that won in Edinburgh but struggled to break down a stubborn PAOK Salonika team.

Hearts face the most crucial 90 minutes in the club's history with a place in the Champions League group stages at stake - and a guaranteed £6million booty.

And the Greek management and players remain in extremely confident they will complete the job in front of 50,000 fans in the Olympic Stadium on Wednesday night.

The Greeks already have one foot in the first leg and are overwhelming favourites to claim their third Scottish scalp in 12 years of Euro competition.

Head coach Lorenzo Serra Ferrer said: "AEK were not so good against PAOK Salonika.

"We tried to win the game but we failed.

"It is sad that we did not win our first game of the season but we must look forward to the game against Hearts.

"If my vision is to come true then AEK will defeat Hearts and qualify for the Champions League group stages and then we can return our focus to the Greek championship."

Former Greek international Vassilis Lakis reckons AEK can pile on the misery for Hearts - if his side score first.

Lakis said: "We missed a couple of chances to score against PAOK but sadly for us we did not take them.

"Now we must focus on the massive match against Hearts and we must be ready to fight to make sure we qualify for the Champions League.

"AEK can make this game a whole lot easier on ourselves if we manage to score the first goal."

Defender St avr o s Georgiopoulos insists the Greeks will not approach the Hearts game the way they did their league opener against PAOK.

Georgiopoulos said: "Hearts are an entirely different proposition to PAOK Salonika.

"There is so much at stake but everybody at AEK believes we can achieve our main target for the season which was to qualify for the Champions League group stages."

Executive chairman Demis Nikolaidis has assured the AEK supporters the club will claim their place among the elite of European football.

Nikolaidis said: "I told the AEK Athens supporters after the PAOK Salonika game that AEK would definitely beat Hearts and qualify for the Champions League group stages.

"It will be a difficult game but I have assured the AEK supporters we will triumph.

"PAOK played with 11 players in their own half of the field and behind the ball and football should not be played like that.

"They are not a small team and I was surprised they played like that. It will be a very different match against Hearts.

"I do not expect a similar type of game as Hearts have to come to try to win and I have every confidence AEK Athens will win."

Taken from the Daily Record