Hearts need hard graft to bounce back - McGlynn

HEARTS assistant coach John McGlynn today warned his side they must "work harder" if they are to bounce back from two consecutive defeats when they travel to Motherwell tomorrow afternoon.

The Jambos go into the clash having had their confidence severely dented following a 1-0 loss to St Mirren last weekend and Thursday night's 2-0 reverse to Sparta Prague in their first round, first leg UEFA Cup tie.

The Gorgie club might consider themselves unfortunate not to have taken something out of their meeting with the Buddies but in midweek they were given a footballing lesson by their Czech opponents as they turned in a lacklustre display that saw them booed off the pitch at Murrayfield.

They have the chance to bounce back at Fir Park tomorrow although McGlynn concedes they can only hope to come away from Lanarkshire with maximum points if they increase the endeavour they put into the game.

"We have to get back on track and the only way to do that is if we work harder," admitted McGlynn.

"Like any time when you've had a bad result you want to get back out on the park and rectify it so it's good we have a game quickly."

The Capital club were minus several first team regulars at the home of Scottish rugby and the good news for boss Valdas Ivanauskas is that midfielders Neil McCann, Julien Brellier and Saulius Mikoliunas will be available for selection after their suspensions.

That will be countered, however, by the fact that Roman Bednar will sit out the match after his dismissal by referee Dougie McDonald following last weekend's defeat to St Mirren.

It's unlikely the club's injury problems will improve in time for the match with Edgaras Jankauskas, Michal Pospisil and Andrew Driver all set to sit out once more.

And there was further bad news when Ivanauskas revealed that defender Christophe Berra is also facing a race against time to prove his fitness.

"We have a little problem with Christophe but we will make a decision on him nearer to the game," he said.

Ivanauskas, meanwhile, insisted his side have the character required to bounce back from a couple of disappointing displays.

"Obviously the mood is bad just now but we have a game tomorrow to try and make up for that," he said.

"It's going to be a hard game but it's a chance for the players to make up for the last games."

Taken from the Scotsman