HEARTS striker Roman Bednar will get the chance to play against his boyhood heroes tomorrow night when the Tynecastle side take on Sparta Prague - and insists the Jam Tarts can cause an upset.

Bednar has admitted that the weekend's 1-0 defeat to St Mirren was far from ideal preparation for the tough Uefa Cup encounter but believes the result will have no bearing on the performance at Murrayfield.

He said: "Everybody was very disappointed on Saturday night and Sunday, but now we are thinking about Sparta Prague.

"My friends in the Czech Republic believe that Hearts will win, but I think it is 50-50.

"But we need to win this game at Murrayfield because we believe that, if we win the first match, we will be OK for the return game.

"It will be nice playing in both games, but I hope I score at Murrayfield to show the Czech people that I am a good player."

Hearts are third in the SPL, having taken 10 points from the opening six games.

This time last season the Tynecastle side were leading the table after a 100% start.

Some disgruntled Hearts fans turned on head coach Valdas Ivanauskas after the defeat by the Buddies.

But Bednar, who was sent off after the match for aiming foul and abusive language at referee Dougie McDonald, has maintained there is still time to launch a decent challenge against the Old Firm.

"It's only the start of the season and every game is so difficult," he said.

"It's not a shock to me that St Mirren have 10 points; they are working hard and that's what it is all about. They are doing what we did last season.

"They worked hard against us and scored a goal. We worked hard and made 10 chances and did not score, but that's football."

Taken from Evening Times