Pressley loses Hearts captaincy

The 33-year-old did not feature in the 1-1 draw at Falkirk on Monday and Christophe Berra led the team.

Last month, Pressley spoke publicly of "significant unrest" at the club, following the departure of head coach Valdas Ivanauskas on sick leave.

"Of course it's a concern," goalkeeper Craig Gordon told BBC Sport. "It's something that we need to sort out."

Gordon hopes to see Pressley return

Pressley has been at Tynecastle since 1998 and signed a two-year contract extension in March 2005.

But Hearts officials would not be drawn on the matter and were refusing to speak to the media.

Scotland star Gordon did talk to BBC Sport but would not reveal the details of Pressley's shock omission.

We are going to give everything we have to bring success to this club

Craig Gordon

"I have spoken to Steven and he wished the boys all the best for the game," he said.

"He still wanted us to get the result and do the best we could for everyone here.

"He did not play tonight but, hopefully, he will come back into the reckoning as soon as possible."

The Edinburgh side have gone off the boil in recent weeks and have not won a game since they hammered Dundee United 4-0 on 1 October.

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Fellow Scotland international Paul Hartley, who flanked Pressley when he read a statement outlining the players' unrest, was dropped to the bench for the Falkirk match.

And Hartley was not introduced until injury time in a match that saw several Hearts players underperform.

Gordon was quick to quash the rumour that he and Hartley had offered not to play in support of Pressley.

"No chance," he told BBC Sport. "We are not walking out on the club and especially the fans who have been fantastic through all of this.

"There is absolutely no way that will happen from anyone in this squad. We are going to give everything we have to bring success to this club."

Interim coach Eduard Malofeev continues to oversee the team and will do so for the match against Rangers on Sunday.

But BBC Sport understands Eugenijus Riabovas will take over the manager's role after that game.

Riabovas has recently steered FBK Kaunas to the Lithuanian title and his arrival will cast further uncertainty over the future of Ivanauskas, who is recovering from health problems.

Taken from the BBC