Apr 28 2008 Gary Ralston Reports

HEARTS have been asked by Edinburgh Council to build a new nursery as a condition of plans to redevelop Tynecastle.

The last thing the council expected was for the club to relocate the existing facility, which sits outside the Main Stand, on to the pitch.

As clubs in the bottom six try their hardest to feign excitement and hype the relevance of the rest of the season, the talk o' the toon for the Jambos is the boys in maroon.

Steve Frail didn't so much name a squad for the game against Inverness Caley Thistle as operate a creche.

And you didn't know whether they would head down the tunnel for a cup of tea at half-time or make a beeline for a Happy Meal at the McDonald's on Gorgie Road.

Frail named eight under-21s in his squad of 18, which is as much a show of faith in the strength of his club's youth system as it was a forced hand to cover for injury and suspension to many high earners who have failed to do themselves justice this season.

Vladimir Romanov has spent so much so carelessly since he took over it is a surprise he has not joined the queue of fellow bank owners looking for a slice of the £50billion government handouts currently being offered by Alistair Darling.

But one area in which the Lithuanian tycoon has listened is in youth development.

He has invested behind the-scenes to such a level that academy director John Murray felt comfortable knocking back an approach from Celtic this season because he has faith in the potential at Riccarton.

Included on the bench was Slovenia Under-17 captain Matej Rapnik. And Aussie defender Ryan McGowan, named young player of the year earlier this month, would have been there too had he not picked up a knock.

The headlines were grabbed by Scott Robinson who, at 16 years, one month and 14 days, became the youngest player to turn out for Hearts' first team when he made a 30-second cameo appearance at the end.

By then, Hearts had the game in the bag courtesy of another teenager, Gary Glen, who scored his second goal in aweek.

The 18-year-old's goal was also a coup for Frail, who has won many admirers for his conduct off the park and has made an even bigger impact on it with only two SPL defeats in the last 15 matches.

Fans grumbled when he replaced striker Calum Elliot with defender Marius Zaliukas with 15 minutes to go and the game goalless - but Frail had spotted what most of the rest of us failed to see.

He gambled on the physical presence of Zaliukas in attack to unsettle Caley Thistle's defensive line and so it proved within three minutes as he linked with Ruben Palazuelos to play in Glen for the winner.

It was the least Hearts deserved. They had dominated for long spells against a Caley Thistle side that looks as if it can't wait for the season to end.

Their body language at the start suggested disappointment that the petrol crisis hadn't bitten deeper and kept them in Inverness for the afternoon.

Hearts were a constant setpiece threat and Christos Karipidis knocked a header off the bar while Glen and Deividas Cesnauskis were also wasteful in front of goal.

For Caley Thistle, Don Cowie went close with a freekick and David Proctor knocked a couple of headers over the top.

But that was as good as it got as Steve Banks spent the second half taking a suntan on the face with all the action up the other end of the park.

Rangers' Carlos Cuellar is in line to be named player of the year in the next round of awards but another Spaniard, Ruben Palazuelos, has impressed in his own way at Tynecastle.

He was at the centre of everything Hearts did well from the middle of the park after the break and his range of passing and eye for a forward chance were impressive.

Frail said: "Ruben had to wait for his chance but has been terrific since he came into the team and now it's really difficult to leave him out."

MAN OF THE MATCH Ruben Palazuelos (Hearts)

MAGIC MOMENT Gary Glen's well-worked winner was the best move of the match.

Taken from the Daily Record