Ivanauskas puts on brave face

Hearts head coach Valdas Ivanauskas has moved to play down increasing speculation over his job.

The Jambos are preparing for Thursday's Uefa Cup clash against Sparta Prague, with speculation surrounding Ivanauskas's continued role at the club following a poor start to the season.

Having been knocked out of the UEFA Champions League qualifiers by AEK Athens, Hearts have also struggled in The SPL - a surprise 1-0 defeat to St Mirren at the weekend sees the club trailing in third place behind The Old Firm.

And confirmation of a widely-held suspicion that majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov has been interfering in team affairs has only made Ivanauskas's position seem even more tenuous.

But the Lithuanian is determined to put on a brave face.

"My job is not a problem, I try to give my best. I am the manager but my future is not interesting," said Ivanauskas.

"It is the club's future which is interesting and the players who are important.

"I want the players to want to win every game and my target this year or maybe in two years' time, is for Hearts to be famous in Europe.

"This game is very important for the club, the fans and for me.

"The players want to get into the group stages, as does Mr Romanov and myself but we don't have any pressure."

Romanov claims exposes on his involvement in Hearts' team affairs are part of a conspiracy against the Edinburgh club.

"I was reading the newspapers after our game with St Mirren, where some people blame me for Hearts defeat," said Romanov, in an excerpt of a statement to the club's official website.

"I see now that it's not an accidental event, but a well-planned action with a purpose to destroy Hearts players' mood."