START WAS ONE ELL OF A SHOCK

CALUM ELLIOT was surprised to return to Hearts' starting line-up on his first day back at the club but insists he's now there to stay.

The 19-year-old was farmed out to Motherwell in a surprise move at the start of the season and didn't enjoy the best of spells with the SPL strugglers.

However, boss Valdas Ivanauskas restored Elliottohisline-up ahead of yesterday's 1-0 win at Dunfermline - even though he hasn't had a single training session back in Gorgie.

The youngster repaid his manager's faith with a decent display in the narrow win but would have liked to have completed his comeback with a goal.

He said: "It's a big relief to be back at Hearts. To play for the club is a great honour and hopefully I'll get many chances in the future.

"Today was my first day back. I trained with Motherwell yesterday so to come back and play straight away was a surprise. But it was a nice surprise.

"It's not that I didn't want to play for Motherwell but coming back to Hearts means I need to prove myself and that's what I'll be trying to do in the next few weeks.

"Hopefully I did enough to stay in the team. It would have been nice to have got a goal because that's what you dream about so not to score was a bit disappointing.

"But the main thing was for the team to get three points."

Elliotfailed to hold down a regular starting slot with Motherwell in his five months in Lanarkshire but he still believes he has returned a better player than the one who lit up the SPL last season.

He added: "Going to Motherwell was beneficial because I gained experience and got to see what it's like at a different club.

"It was also good to learn from a different manager and coaches. I enjoyed it there.

"But I'm glad to be back at Hearts and hopefully I can play more games and score more goals.

"I know I'm good enough to play for Hearts and I've got to prove that in the next few weeks by helping the team push for second place."

Hearts boss Ivanauskas backed Elliot to make an impression on his return but admitted he's still keen to strengthen his squad during this month's transfer window. He said: "Calum didn't have a lot of chances but he works hard for the team and that is the most important thing for me.

"I am happy for him. He has come back much, much stronger and much more solid.

"But we are still looking. We have a big squad but if we find one or two quality players then we will take them."

Pars striker Jim Hamilton came closest to netting his side's first goal in five matches during a second-half in which Dunfermline spurned several chances to grab an equaliser.

But the former Hearts player hit out at referee Craig Thomson for disallowing Mark Burchill's strike after his own headed flick-on.

Thomson's whistle had already gone when Burchill slotted home but Hamilton insisted the goal should have stood. He said: "I still don't know the reason for the goal being disallowed for but we've got to make our own luck.

"It's not nice to go such a long time without a goal but if you look at the players we've got it's going to come sooner or later.

"We just need a bit of luck and the ball to hit off somebody's a*** or something."

Dunfermline manager Stephen Kenny is also praying for a change of luck and admitted he is hoping to make moves in the transfer window after watching his side slip nine points adrift at the foot of the table.

He said: "A draw wouldn't have flattered us. We were more direct in the second-half and that seemed to cause Hearts problems.

"We're a bit gutted after the festive period, I can't deny that. But there's lots of effort and determination and when you have that you have a chance.

"We need a bit of quality in one or two areas and we'll make changes because we need to bring a couple of players in.

"We'll also get a couple of players back from injury which should make us a bit stronger and leave us in a healthier position for our next league game against Falkirk."

Taken from the Daily Record