Pressley calls for more heart

PLENTY of words have been spoken, countless threats and promises made but, if Hearts really want to be considered serious contenders to the Old Firm domination of Scottish football, they now have to start backing up the talk with some affirmative action, according to Steven Pressley.

The intentions were posted last season with a second-place finish in the league and Scottish Cup silverware but if that season is to be remembered as something more than a blip on the domestic radar, the club captain says the current form has to improve.

"With success comes a higher level of expectation and I said prior to the start of the season that we'd have to show we can handle that - the Old Firm do it year after year. But in recent weeks we've not really handled that. And it's going to take some big performances and characters."

Speaking after the club suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Sparta Prague to all but kill off hopes of prolonging their European involvement, it was their fifth defeat in a sequence of seven games which has included just one win. But despite the bad run, Pressley was doing his utmost to live up to the tag of man motivator.

"We need to bounce back. We need to show our courage, we need to show our spirit and we need big character at this time - that'll make the difference in the coming weeks."

Whatever the missing ingredient, there is a growing desperation in the ranks to rediscover it. And quickly. Especially as they head into this afternoon's vital Premierleague match against bottom-of-the-table Motherwell.

"I think within our dressing room we have to concentrate on getting our season back on track. And that starts at the game at Fir Park," said Pressley, fully aware that the team are now in a battle to finish even third in the standings.

It's a far cry from the demands made by club owner Vladamir Romanov, who set the target of winning a European trophy by the end of next season and has already spent the early part of this season writing off the chances of Celtic and Rangers beating them to the league title. It was a lot of big talk and with progression to the UEFA Cup group stages now a fairly forlorn hope, and domestic showings a shadow of those served up last year, so far, it's bravado his players are struggling to give any credence to.

"I don't think any of us performed near the levels we're capable of, it was a very disappointing display," he said, despondent after Wednesday night's UEFA Cup debacle. "We didn't function in the manner we can and that was reflected in the result. It was probably very much a justified win for Sparta Prague. We didn't perform. That's the disappointing factor."

A man who has enjoyed victories over Bordeaux and Basle in recent years, it was the manner of Hearts' downfall which tore him apart. "We've given some excellent performances in Europe in my time but that's maybe the most disappointing I've experienced. We need a mammoth display. It's certainly possible but it's going to take a remarkable performance over there to go through. It's difficult to pinpoint [the problem], we just didn't seem to get any momentum in the team. We spoke a bit about that at half-time and, although we played with a better tempo after the break, we never really got momentum and we didn't put them under the type of pressure we're capable of."

And now it's Hearts under pressure. Pressley acknowledges that. "We need big characters. It's been tough over the past couple of weeks for us and we need players out there who want to fight for this football club."

The battle is on but it's now a question of who has the heart for it.

Taken from the Scotsman