I WON'T WALK AWAY

DEFIANT Valdas Ivanauskas last night insisted he will not walk away from Hearts.

The Tynecastle boss has vowed to fight on despite staring Euro disaster in the face for the second time in a month.

Sources close to club owner Vladimir Romanov also stressed Ivanauskas continues to enjoy his support.

Hearts' 2-0 defeat by Sparta Prague all but ended their hopes of reaching the UEFA Cup group stage. It follows the 5-1 aggregate thrashing by AEK Athens in the Champions League qualifiers.

Asked if he feared for the future, Ivanauskas said: "I was taught fear is wrong - and Mr Romanov is the same as me.

"We've spoken about the game and he was very upset about the result and wanted to know how it happened.

"But mainly now I believe Mr Romanov and I, and everyone else, must find the quickest way out of this situation and into better results."

Romanov met a group of supporters at Tynecastle yesterday in a pre-arranged meeting, with discussions described as "amicable".

It's believed Romanov asked the fans if he still had their backing and there were no voices of dissent.

Taken from the Daily Record