DRIVER HAPPY TO GO DOWN LOAN ROAD

By Ronnie Esplin, PA Sport

Hearts debutant Andrew Driver scored his first goal for the club in their 4-1 defeat of Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Tynecastle then admitted he would not be afraid to follow Calum Elliot out on loan to get a regular game.

Driver, 18, has two years left on his current contract and a new five-year deal offered to him has yet to be signed.

Elliot, 19, was farmed out to Motherwell yesterday despite the Tynecastle strike-force being decimated by injuries.

The Gorgie side had Robbie Neilson missing through suspension and a host of injuries meant that six players - Tiago Costa, Marius Zaliukas, Mauricio Pinilla, Jamie Mole, Christos Karipidis and substitute Driver - had made their SPL debuts by the end of the match.

The young wide-man, who volleyed the Jambos' third goal after coming on for Neil McCann, said: "It was surprising Calum going out on loan because of what he did last year.

"He will prove he is good enough at Motherwell and he will do that easily because he is class.

"I was delighted to get on the park and happy to get my goal.

"I wouldn't be worried about going out on loan to get first-team experience.

"It would probably be a good thing for me, especially if I knew I wasn't going to get a chance every week or every other week (at Hearts).

"I think it would be a good thing. I would think about it, but it's up to the management if they want to send me but if not I'm happy to stay where I am.

"There is a heavy schedule and players can't play every week so hopefully the manager can trust us and give us a chance."

Pinilla headed the home side into the lead in the 19th minute before the visitors responded on the half-hour mark with striker Graham Bayne scoring from close range.

With three minutes of the first half remaining, Jamie Mole powered a Paul Hartley free-kick home and second half goals from substitutes Driver and Bruno Aguiar tied up the points.

Hearts head coach Valdas Ivanauskas refused to deny that midfielder Julien Brellier had been dropped for the visit of the Highlanders.

The Frenchman was sent off during the week in the Champions League defeat in Athens for two bookings, the first for coming onto the pitch with an earring.

Ivanauskas stressed that he was forced into so many changes by suspension and injury but when repeatedly asked if Brellier was injured, Ivanauskas, three times replied: "Robbie Neilson was suspended and the other players were either injured or rested.

"We had such a lot of new players in."

Highlanders boss Charlie Christie complained that referee Steve Conroy made a mistake by failing to spot an apparent McCann pass-back to Jambos keeper Craig Gordon just before the home side scored their opening goal.

McCann's pass to Gorgie left-back Lee Wallace was allowed to go all the way through to Gordon who quickly set in motion a move that ended with the former Rangers and Southampton player crossing for Pinilla to score the first goal.

Christie said: "The fourth official said their full-back left the ball for Gordon and because it wasn't meant for him then it wasn't a foul. That was a lame excuse.

"I haven't seen it on television yet but I'm adamant that it was a pass-back.

"And 99 times out of 100, if it had been the other way round, it would have been a free-kick.

"I don't know if the referee was swayed by the Tynecastle crowd but suddenly we were 1-0 down, it was a huge disappointment.

"History books will say that it was 4-1 but I don't know how we lost by that score.

"It was as good as we played since we beat Hearts 3-1 in the Scottish Cup in 2002.

"We have played worse in games and come away with something."

Taken from sportinglife.com