VALDAS IVANAUSKAS has accused Hibs boss John Collins of disrespecting Hearts.

The Lithuanian is raging over allegations Collins branded his side a pub team in the aftermath of the explosive Edinburgh derby on Boxing Day.

He allegedly hit out in the tunnel at Tynecastle at the end of his side's 3-2 defeat in a blast overheard by Hearts players.

The former Scotland midfielder was unavailable for comment yesterday as he ducked his team's media conference ahead of today's visit by Dunfermline.

He was said to be having a cup of tea with chairman Rod Petrie and assistant Tommy Craig refused to comment.

But an angry Ivanauskas said: "He's a very intelligent and clever man but if he said that it's not good. Firstly, it's not true and secondly he was very, very angry after losing the game on Boxing Day.

"But now I'm the one who is angry because he shows a lack of respect to Hearts. I can't understand it. We have had no negative reactions from other teams, only respect. We must all respect each other - managers and their clubs."

Ivanauskas reckons Collins' alleged comments were born from the frustration of defeat.

But he added: "If you look at the whole game and you remember the league game we played at Easter Road earlier in the season the situations were the same.

"Then Saulius Mikoliunas was given a red card and we battled back from two goals down, while Mirsad Beslija almost scored our winner. It was similar at Tynecastle only this time we took three points and Hib s took zero points."

Meanwhile, Hearts are running the rule over Kaunas keeper Eduardas Kurskis but Ivanauskas confirmed they've ruled out moves for Belarussians Vyachelsav Hleb and Oleg Strachanovich as neither qualify for work permits.

Also the club have scrapped plans to host a winter-training camp for Vladimir Romanov's eastern European stable of players, as revealed by Record Sport, and are instead giving a select group the chance to impress in the weeks ahead.

Taken from the Daily Record