By Lisa Gray, PA Sport

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Angry Hearts fans have been told majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov will answer their questions the next time he is in the country.

The Jambos supremo remained at his Lithuanian base instead of making the trip to Edinburgh for their 1-0 Bank of Scotland Premier League defeat to Rangers on Sunday.

A crowd of around 200 gathered outside Tynecastle afterwards to protest against the running of the club, chanting, "Sack the board" and "Romanov must go".

They are furious that Steven Pressley was left on the bench for a game which could ultimately decide second spot in the SPL and spent much of the match singing his name.

The skipper missed their last game amid reports of a plot to oust him as captain and a question mark remains over his future tonight.

The latest crisis to engulf Hearts comes just a few weeks after Pressley - flanked by Paul Hartley and Craig Gordon - revealed "significant unrest" at Tynecastle.

Results on the park are now beginning to suffer and today's defeat sees the Gorgie outfit plunge to fifth in the SPL.

"The fans were unhappy even before this game," said Jambos sport director Alex Kozlovski.

"You always respect the opinion of the fans because the fans are the basis of any club.

"I think when Mr Romanov comes to Britain, he will answer any questions."

He stressed that interim head coach Eduard Malofeev - not Romanov - selected the team for the visit of Rangers, including the decision not to recall Pressley.

Malofeev will now make way for Eugenijus Riabovas while he acquires the UEFA Pro Licence needed to work in top flight.

And, asked whether Pressley will be back in the team for next week's game against Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Kozlovski added: "We don't know yet."

While fans vocally backed Pressley, the names of the Lithuanian players - barring the impressive Andrius Velicka - drew jeers from the home crowd when read out ahead of the game.

Nerijus Barasa, in particular, was singled out after replacing popular Scotland international Robbie Neilson at right wing back.

"I'm surprised about Barasa and I think it's a little bit of discrimination because he played very well," said Kozlovski.

"It's because he is Lithuanian. These players are not in favour with the fans because they are Lithuanian and that is not fair."

While Hearts plunge deeper into turmoil, Rangers manager Paul Le Guen is hoping the crisis is finally over at his own club.

Back-to-back wins over Dunfermline and Hearts have allowed them to get their SPL campaign back on track and move into second spot.

Nacho Novo grabbed the only goal of the game with 78 minutes gone and Le Guen insists it was a deserved victory.

He said: "It was a good performance and a great result and I think we deserved to win. We had the better chances.

"It could give us a lift. It was a little step against Dunfermline and perhaps this is a bigger step today.

"But we must keep our humility. Football is so difficult and we must be very careful and carry on working hard.

"It's the only way to win games."

Le Guen feels his new signings are finally beginning the adapt to Scottish football and gel with the players he inherited when he took over at the Ibrox helm in the summer.

He added: "The team spirit is better and the players are aware they must show character and solidarity.

"It was better today but that was not a surprise for me. There were a lot of new players but the team bonding is better now."

Taken from sportinglife.com