ELVIS LOSES THE PRAGUE

STEVEN PRESSLEY hopes a dressing room pow-wow paves the way for a Hearts win over Sparta Prague in the UEFA Cup.

The skipper (above) held a Tynecastle talk-in after his side slumped to a 1-0 defeat against St Mirren and lost their place alongside Celtic at the top of the SPL.

Pressley refused to divulge details of Saturday's post-mortem but it doesn't take a genius to work out his areas of concern ahead of Thursday's first-leg tie against the Czechs at Murrayfield.

Elvis has told striker Roman Bednar it's time to grow up and accept the occasional bitter pill of defeat after he became the fifth Hearts star to be red-carded this season - this time for a tunnel bust-up with whistler Dougie McDonald.

Pressley warned his team-mates they cannot afford to be so sloppy in front of goal against Sparta or their Euro dream will die for another season.

He has called on stability to be restored to the team selection process at a club where 26 players have already been used in only six league games this season.

Pressley also wants Tynecastle to become a fortress again after they shipped their fifth point of the season at home against the Buddies.

Hearts lost only twice and drew twice at home in the SPL last season but they have already lost once and drawn once after only four games this time round.

Pressley said: "I had a few choice words to say in the dressing room after the game but they'll remain within our squad.

"I'm disappointed with our defeat and although we created a great many opportunities we can't take anything away from St Mirren. "They showed great resilience, dug in and got the result they came here for.

"Generally we have the knack of grinding out results but this time we didn't make the breakthrough and paid the ultimate price.

"We're well aware we have to win these types of games because in terms of our challenge last year the foundation was built at Tynecastle.

"We gave away very few points but already this season we've drawn 0-0 against Falkirk and lost to St Mirren and that's not good enough.

"It's something we have to address but there's certainly no panic.

"We're aware of expectations but in past seasons failure to win at Tynecastle wasn't good enough either.

"This club has set standards over many years and that includes having to win all the matches we play at home."

Hearts are not helping their cause against Sparta by going into the game minus midfielders Julien Brellier and Neil McCann, dismissed in the second leg of the Champions League qualifier against AEK Athens.

Bednar became the second Hearts player to be sent off in the SPL this season when he argued with whistler McDonald going up the tunnel at the end of the game over a first- half penalty he felt should have been awarded.

Bednar certainly had cause for complaint when Kirk Broadfoot pulled at his shirt as he went for a header at the back post in 37 minutes.

However, Pressley has told Bednar, 23, he must show greater self-discipline and Hearts will now miss the presence of their Czech star when they visit Fir Park at the weekend.

Elvis said: "Roman is a young player and a terrific prospect and he obviously felt hard done by.

"But he must learn that sometimes you've got to take your medicine in defeat and accept it."

Vladimir Romanov confirmed the worst-kept secret in Scottish football on Saturday when he confessed to the extent of his involvement in the team, which includes a say in the selection of players.

Pressley refused to be drawn on the specifics of his comments but he issued a warning on team selection that could be perceived as a plea to stop tinkering.

He said: "We've got to get the right balance in the side. Yes, you need freshness at times but you also need an element of consistency of selection.

"I don't want to keep harping back to last season but when we had our run of victories the team more or less picked itself, bar one or two players.

"It's important we return to more consistency of team selection."

Hearts cannot afford to be so wasteful in front of goal in the UEFA Cup or they could tumble out of Europe for the second time in a month after their 5-1 aggregate humbling in the Champions League qualifier against AEK Athens.

Pressley is determined that will not happen and said: "We'll be ready come Thursday to get the right result.

"We must get the right reaction against Sparta as this is a great chance to maintain our interest in Europe at least until Christmas.

"We qualified for the group stages a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. We want to experience it again."

Taken from the Daily Record