Paul's no bigot

HEARTS today backed midfield star Paul Hartley '100 per cent' over claims that he made sectarian remarks in a club fanzine.

The player was today at the centre of a storm after being accused of making derogatory comments about Rangers in an unofficial publication while with Millwall in 1997. The article has since appeared on a number of websites but the Tynecastle club are furious with the slur, particularly as it comes just 24 hours before one of the biggest games in their history.

They also claimed that the player - who flew out to Athens for tomorrow night's Champions League qualifier with the rest of his team-mates today - denies ever taking part in the interview.

While stressing that the club condemns all forms of sectarianism, the spokesman said: "Paul Hartley utterly refutes the allegation that he made such remarks. These comments come from an apparent interview which was given to an unofficial publication almost ten years ago and have been picked up by a discreditable source before being distributed to national newspapers.

"It is also interesting to note that, yet again, such a story is published on the eve of an important fixture involving Hearts and, in particular, that it features a high-profile player coming back from injury.

"Such attempts to discredit Paul will not succeed and a number of Paul's friends and family are indeed Rangers fans.

"Paul has the complete backing of everyone at the club and we would also like to stress that the players, directors and staff condemn all forms of sectarianism."

The player came off the bench in Saturday's 2-0 defeat to Rangers, his first league outing since suffering a groin injury at the end of last season and is expected to play a key role against Athens tomorrow night.

One man who wasn't on the plane to Athens today was striker Roman Bednar, the knock taken to his instep at Ibrox ruling him out of tomorrow night's tie. Fellow Czech Michal Pospisil did fly out with the rest of the squad although a decision on his fitness will be left to the very last minute. Hearts assistant coach John McGlynn revealed: "The game has come too soon for Roman and losing him is a big blow. Michal has travelled with us but will only play a part if his improvement continues at the same rate as it has the past couple of days."

Meanwhile, Hearts have been linked with a move for Togolese international midfielder Alaixys Romao, who is currently captain of French third division team Louhans-Cuiseaux. The 22-year-old played two World Cup games in Germany for his country against South Korea and Switzerland. The player's agent Frederic Dobraje said: "There is a chance the player will be in Edinburgh later in the week to meet the club and agree a contract."

Taken from the Scotsman