Driver signs 5-year Hearts deal

ANDY DRIVER has signed a new five-year contract with Hearts and joins colleagues Christophe Berra, Lee Wallace and Calum Elliot in committing himself to Tynecastle until 2011.

The 18-year-old winger has finally concluded negotiations with the club after initially refusing the terms offered to him. Driver had two years left on his existing contract but has added another three and scored his first Hearts goal on his home debut against Inverness on Saturday.

He said today: "I know I've got that security for the next five years now and I'm happy about it. I was just delighted to get it signed, really. I wanted to put it behind me and get on with doing well here."

Head coach Valdas Ivanauskas, who has welcomed two more Lithuanians to the club - FBK Kaunas pair Andrius Velicka and Kestutis Ivaskevicius on season-long loans - believes the progress of teenagers like Driver and Jamie Mole proves that majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov has been correct to place his faith in youth.

"Before the start of the season Mr Romanov wanted me to integrate the young boys as quickly as possible and that's why we took quite a few of them to our training camp in Austria," said Ivanauskas.

"We have a lot of foreign players but we must always look to use our young players.

Stevie Frail [Hearts' youth coach] has done well with the under-19 team and we have a lot of good players at that level. Now they need to play regularly.

"Saturday was the first time that Driver and Mole had played in the championship and they both did well. It was obviously important that they both scored a goal each but their performances impressed me more. Now we have more options."

Despite Romanov declaring at the weekend that he is in negotiations with two World Cup players, the Togolese midfielder Jacques Alexis Romao is no longer an option for Hearts after voluntarily breaking off negotiations upon the club's exit from the Champions League.

Hearts will play Alloa at Recreation Park in the third round of the CIS Cup. The match will take place on September 19/20.

Taken from the Scotsman