Campbell reveals he tried to sign Elliot

PARTICK Thistle manager Dick Campbell last night revealed he tried to sign Hearts' rising star Calum Elliot last summer.

Campbell made contact with the then Hearts manager George Burley about taking the young striker to Firhill and, while Burley was keen for the move to go ahead, Elliot opted to stay at Tynecastle.

It proved to be a good judgment by the 18-year-old, who despite all the high-profile arrivals at Gorgie has managed to hold down a starting slot in Graham Rix's side.

While Rix has the likes of Champions League winner Edgaras Jankauskas and Scotland international Paul Hartley in his ranks, Campbell believes Elliot provides the biggest threat in their Scottish Cup quarter-final clash.

Campbell said: "People go on about their big stars, but I like the big striker, Elliott, at Hearts. I tried to get him on loan in the transfer window.

"George Burley was quite keen on it, but he's taken his chance and he's keeping the big stars out of the team. I'd expect my players to do the same. Elliot's a good player."

Hearts coach John McGlynn insists there is no chance the players will take the tie with Partick lightly following Celtic's earlier shock exit from the competition. The Tynecastle outfit are overwhelming favourites to seal their passage to the semi-final when they face the Second Division outfit in tomorrow's televised clash.

This year's cup has grabbed the public's imagination, with both Rangers and Celtic having been knocked out, the latter's 2-1 defeat to Clyde being the biggest upset.

Partick have already taken an SPL scalp in the form of Inverness and McGlynn has warned the players to treat Campbell's charges with respect when they visit Tynecastle.

He said: "Both myself and Stevie Frail went through to watch Partick Thistle in their cup tie against Inverness and Jim Duffy was actually doing radio commentary that night as well.

"We know a fair bit about them and as we have seen they are more than capable of beating a Premierleague team, and it was a capable and solid team like Inverness. We have to be wary of that.

"We also saw that Clyde beat Celtic earlier in the competition so these things can happen and we have to be totally focused."

Meanwhile, Hearts have been boosted with the news that captain Steven Pressley is winning his battle to overcome a virus ahead of the visit of Thistle.

Taken from the Scotsman