Velicka vows to do his talking on the pitch

WHEN Steven Pressley, the Hearts captain, issued a statement on behalf of himself and "certain colleagues" 12 days ago, it was clear there was a split at the club. Flanked by his fellow Scotland internationals Craig Gordon and Paul Hartley, Pressley spoke of "significant unrest within the dressing-room".

At least some of that unrest stemmed from the perception that team selection was not being made entirely on merit. Although Pressley declined to name names, two cases were obvious illustrations: the virtual exclusion of Julien Brellier and the continued selection of Saulius Mikoliunas.

The preferential treatment apparently given to the latter led to an inference that the split was between the Lithuanians and the rest, and last weekend Pressley acknowledged that some of the issues he raised had yet to be resolved. Yesterday, though, one of Mikoliunas's compatriots, Andrius Velicka, stated his belief that the squad was united.

"As far as I'm aware there is no unrest," said the striker, who scored twice in the last Edinburgh derby and is certain to start in tonight's CIS Cup quarter-final at Easter Road. Pressley will be back after recovering from flu, but Neil McCann and Deividas Cesnauskis are both injured.

"Everything is OK, everyone is training every day and concentrating on the next game, "he continued. "We are not discussing problems. My job, and my colleagues' jobs, is to train and to perform well on the pitch."

Velicka, who was loaned to Hearts from Kaunas at the end of August, did not go so far as to assert there had never been any problems. He made it plain, though, that he wanted to keep his head down and concentrate on football rather than politics.

"I've got a problem with English and I don't really understand everything," he said when asked what he had thought of Pressley's statement. "When the statement came out I heard it on the radio and I didn't quite understand it all.

"I'm a new player here and I'm not really supposed to have my opinions. I've not been involved so long with all the problems Steven mentioned. Maybe that's why Steven didn't ask me about the statement. But my job is to play football and I don't want to be involved in anything else.

"I don't see a split between the Lithuanians and the Scottish players. The team is united. The only difference might be the language. We're playing together and we're happy together."

That unity was more apparent on Saturday, when Hearts impressed despite losing 2-1 to Celtic. It should be added, though, that Velicka would probably be the last Lithuanian to be made aware of anyone else's displeasure, as while others have been criticised for failing to contribute fully to the team effort, he has always worked assiduously.

As Mauricio Pinilla has been on the sidelines because of injury and Edgaras Jankauskas has struggled for match fitness, Velicka has swiftly if surprisingly emerged as the most reliable striker at the club.

He might have done so much sooner had he been one of the players selected to join Hearts at the start of last year. But, of the score or more who were flown over from eastern Europe for a training camp, only Mikoliunas, Deividas Cesnauskis and the since-departed Marius Kizys were chosen to join the squad. Having made it here now, though, he has every intention of staying for the long term. "I'm on loan until the end of the season, and of course I want to stay longer," Velicka said. "One hundred per cent."

• Mauricio Pinilla was last night named in the Chile squad to play Paraguay in a home friendly on 15 November. The striker has not played for Hearts since sustaining an injury on international duty last month.

Taken from the Scotsman