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| <-Page | <-Team | Sat 02 Dec 2006 St Mirren 2 Hearts 2 | Team-> | Page-> |
| <-Srce | <-Type | Herald ------ Players | Type-> | Srce-> |
| Valdas Ivanauskas | <-auth | MARTIN McMILLAN | auth-> | Charlie Richmond |
| 17 | of 062 | Saulius Mikoliunas 1 ;Marius Zaliukas 51 Stewart Kean 19 ;Stewart Kean 21 | L SPL | A |
Pressley again omitted from Hearts squadMARTIN McMILLAN December 02 2006 Steven Pressley, the Hearts captain, has been left out of the squad for today's trip to face St Mirren, despite assurances from within the club that they they are striving to end the recent turmoil. Pressley returned to the starting line-up at Inverness last weekend, having missed the previous two matches after voicing his concern about Vladimir Romanov's handling of the club. It has now emerged that Pressley was involved in a row with the team management on Thursday and the Scotland defender did not train with his Hearts team-mates yesterday, despite being fully fit. It is understood the SPFA are also offering Pressley advice over the latest disagreement. The latest revelation came on a day when Valdas Ivanauskas, the Hearts head coach, promised to strive for a settled team. The Lithuanian returns to the dugout at St Mirren after a five-week absence for health reasons and he said: "My first target is to find, maybe not 11, maybe 14, 15, 16 players, but it is not easy because there is a lot of players." But while Ivanauskas seeks stability over the coming weeks he has promised changes following Eduard Malofeev's spell in charge, which saw the Edinburgh club's run without a victory stretch to eight games. "We need to change the results, we need to change our game," he said. "I will change the system, I will change the team for tomorrow and I hope it will be a winning team." The Hearts head coach admitted it is hard to satisfy all his players' needs for first-team action and he may consider loaning some out. "It's a big squad, a lot of players need regular playing time … and I have many ideas," he added. "I will say to the club and I think in January we will change the situation." Michal Pospisil, the Hearts striker, condemned Malofeev's selection policy and admits the mood at Tynecastle has lifted since Ivanauskas returned. "'I think the rotation was almost crazy," he said. "Some players play well and the next game are not in the team. It is demotivating. "And another player maybe doesn't perform very well and is in the squad. It is strange. "I think also a lot of players were maybe scared to speak with the former coach." The Czech frontman added that the return of Ivanauskas has lifted the players and said: "The mood is definitely better. Valdas is close to the players. He used to play abroad as well so he understands foreigners. "I think the team must settle down, definitely." Stewart Kean, meanwhile, believes his struggle to regain a starting place proves the strength of the St Mirren squad. With the striker's last goal coming in a 1-0 victory over Hearts at Tynecastle earlier in September he said: Obviously it was a good result for us at Hearts – it was a tough match. "You have to have belief going into the game because we have already beaten them at Tynecastle. But it's going to be tough, they are an experienced side with international players."  Taken from the Herald |
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