BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

HEARTS skipper Steven Pressley has set his sights on London, Paris and Milan this year - but in football, not fashion.

The Scotland defender has just been named one of the best-dressed men in the country by style gurus who reckon he's more Serie A than SPL.

But Elvis has vowed to turn ugly to maintain Hearts' hopes of reaching the group stage of the UEFA Cup in Prague tonight.

Pressley, 32, was listed alongside Scottish IndyCar star Dario Franchitti, Dr Who actor David Tennant and writer AA Gill in a poll to find Caledonia's coolest exponent of haute couture.

But he admits he doesn't mind being in vogue - just so long as the Jamb os are still in Europe.

Elvis admitted he had been on the receiving end of inevitable dressing-room stick but light-heartedly insisted he is giving as good as he gets.

He said: "I'm actually fuelling the banter among the lads about this, although the paparazzi have been a nightmare these last few days.

"Seriously, I was clearing out my cupboards last Thursday of all my old clothes to take to the local charity shop.

"Then, the story broke on Sunday that I'd been nominated as one of the five most stylish Scots and I immediately phoned my wife, June. I told her, 'Forget the charity shop - we're having an auction instead'."

Pressley is smiling again after a difficult few weeks when he admitted it was threatening to all come apart at Tynecastle - and the feelgood factor is spreading throughout the Hearts squad.

Record Sport revealed yesterday Vladimir Romanov held an angry talk-in at the Hearts dressing room less than 24 hours after watching his side slump to a 2-0 first-leg defeat against Sparta Prague.

But the clouds have lifted since and Pressley, who confirmed the meeting with Romanov, reckons sunny days could be just around the corner.

The odds are still stacked against Hearts progressing in the UEFA Cup but Pressley reckons the new-found resilience of the squad has given them a genuine hope of pulling off one of the club's greatest victories.

Hearts have won their last three games on the road at Motherwell, Alloa and Aberdeen and after those internal pow wows Pressley is convinced they can make it four in a row, no matter how it is achieved.

Asked about Romanov, he said: "Yes, there were discussions but we'll keep what was said within the squad. But we've all responded in the right manner since then and credit to all the players for doing that.

"There was a time when people needed to stand up and be counted or the season would fall on its face and it's pleasing to see how we've reacted.

"Last season we started so well it was easier to build a momentum and kick on but for the first time in 18 months we've been asked questions and we've come up with answers.

"They'll continue to be asked throughout the season and the big test will be coming up with the right replies.

"The response so far has been terrific. We could have been on a slippery slope but you need big characters in your team and we've got them and that's very encouraging for Valdas.

"It's been overlooked but we've played a lot of high-tempo and high-profile matches this season and Alex McLeish talked time and again last year about the difficulties he encountered at Rangers in a similar situation.

"We have also found it difficult to return to SPL action after playing in Europe and it has affected our performances but it's fantastic we're still in the hunt at the top of the table and we should be proud of that."

Hearts must become history makers tonight if they are to knock out Sparta and become the first Scottish team to emerge victorious from a Euro tie after losing the first leg at home.

We have tried and failed 33 times in the last half century but Pressley reckons his team can break the mould because they've shown the same characteristic recently as high-flying Celtic.

Pressley added: "A few harsh words have been said in the last couple of weeks but we've stayed together as a team and that was emphasised by our 1-0 win at Motherwell 10 days ago.

"It was a good team performance, we showed a tremendous team spirit and we did the ugly things well.

"I watched Celtic against FC Copenhagen and the thing about them that impressed me most was, yes, they have players who are capable at opening up opposition defences but they work exceptionally hard for their side and that has also been vital in our last three victories.

"Our team spirit and work-rate was key last year and we've got to keep showing that. We had some outstanding individual performances but we worked really hard for each other and if you watch the top teams they all share that trait."

Pressley is keen to make amends tonight, not least because he was so disappointed by the manner of his side's defeat in the first leg at Murrayfield.

He added: "It was the most disappointing European tie I've ever been involved with in all my time at the club. When you watch Hearts you expect to see controlled aggression and a physical approach but we never achieved it against Sparta and that was bitterly disappointing.

"We received criticism for our performance and rightly so but we've responded in the best possible manner with three consecutive victories. We're underdogs going into the second leg, that's an understatement, but I still believe we have an opportunity to progress in this competition, I really do.

"Goals change football matches and if we score first - and we're capable of it - they might just become nervous.

"We've got nothing to lose but they might just be a wee bit unsure about how to approach this tie. Will they look to finish the tie early or will they sit in and hit us on the counter attack?

"No matter, I still believe we have the quality in our side to win this game, especially with players such as Paul Hartley delivering great crosses at set-pieces.

"We must make sure we're disciplined.We've had six players sent off this season and that's not good enough.

"Some of them were the result of heat-of-the-moment incidents but top players and sports-men in general must work off controlled aggression.

"We showed all the qualities we'll need tonight when we won 3-1 at Aberdeen on Sunday and hopefully we can take confidence from that."

Taken from the Daily Record