Play me or I go

RECORD signing Mirsad Beslija will demand a transfer from Hearts if he is forced to endure his peripheral first-team role much longer.

The Bosnian winger has warned majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov and head coach Valdas Ivanauskas they have until the end of the year to play him on a more frequent basis or he will engineer his way out of Tynecastle during the January transfer window.

English Premiership newcomers Reading and Sporting Lokeren of Belgium were two of several suitors to intimate an interest in Beslija before the transfer window closed last month. However, a number of transfer and loan offers were refused by Hearts.

Beslija replaced Saulius Mikoliunas for the final six minutes of Saturday's 1-0 defeat by St Mirren, but, having made just three starts for Hearts in more than eight months, he has seen his international prospects suffer.

"If I'm not playing by December then I'll go," he said. "I will speak with Mr Romanov and Valdas and tell them I must go because I'm not playing from the start. I'm waiting, waiting for my chance. Maybe it will come in the next game, but then again maybe not.

"I will wait two or three months to see how things develop and if I'm not playing then I will ask for a meeting. I'm looking at my situation. I haven't played for over six months and I've lost my place in the national team because I'm not playing for Hearts."

Bosnia-Herzegovina coach Blaz Sliskovic has already relegated Beslija from his regular starting berth to the substitutes' bench as a consequence of the winger's inactivity at club level.

His £9000-a-week wages at Hearts have been an insurmountable hurdle to a move thus far, whilst Romanov has not received an acceptable offer for the player as he seeks to recoup the majority of the £800,000 he agreed to pay Racing Genk last January.

Ironically, 80 per cent of that fee remains outstanding with FIFA currently conducting an investigating into the situation.

Romanov asked Genk in June to take Beslija back in return for a waiving of the outstanding £640,000, but the 27-year-old has grown weary of the politics surrounding his move.

"Everything has changed and it's no use for me. I have an international career to think of. Because I'm not playing here my national coach has spoken with me and told me I can't start for my country. It's a difficult situation for me."

Ivanauskas was left to lament his team's profligacy at the weekend as well as the red card shown to Roman Bednar after the full-time whistle. "Roman had a discussion with the referee but the referee has said we must wait for his report," said the Lithuanian.

"I've never seen so many good chances in one game. The St Mirren goalkeeper did well but we needed a goal. We also have to be careful about other teams' counter-attacks and free-kicks because that's how we lost the goal. It's frustrating."

Meanwhile, Sparta Prague enjoyed a 2-0 victory over Tescoma Zlin at the weekend in front of Hearts assistant coach John McGlynn. Libor Dosek's second-half double at the Toyota Arena was enough to dispatch Tescoma Zlin and propel Sparta to third place in the Czech Gambrinus Liga before they journey to Edinburgh for this week's UEFA Cup first round, first leg.

McGlynn said: "It was 0-0 at half-time and their new coach [Michal Bilek] got it right because he made two substitutions, one of which was Dosek and he scored twice. Dosek is a 6ft 6in striker who hasn't played much for Sparta recently, so whether he plays on Thursday we don't know.

"Valdas and I have both seen them and on both occasions they have changed the team around during the game."

Taken from the Scotsman