SHIELDS: HEARTS ARE BEST BUT TITLE'S GONE

GREG SHIELDS feels Hearts are the best side in the SPL this season but believes they've blown their chance of the title. He was so impressed by their display in their 2-0 win over Dunfermline in October he branded them the best in the top-flight.

But as he gears up to face the Tynecastle men on Saturday, the Pars defender believes they could struggle to recover from the heartbreak of losing a two-goal lead to Celtic on Ne'erday.

Shields said: "When we played Hearts at Tynecastle I said in the dressing room I felt we had just played the best side in the league.

"But seven points is a big gap on a side like Celtic. To be 2-0 up but lose 3-2 was a huge psychological blow to them in the title race."

Pars boss Jim Leishman has turned his attentions to Rapid Vienna striker Cem Atan after being priced out of the market for Lithuanians Ricardas Beniusis and Andrius Velicka. The 20-year-old is on loan with Austrian Third Division side TSV Hartberg but is available on a two-year deal if he impresses on trial this week.

Taken from the Daily Record