IT WON'T BOTHER US

STAND-IN skipper Christophe Berra last night insisted all will not be lost if Paul Hartley and Craig Gordon are shipped out of Hearts.

Berra led the Jambos to a precious point at Ibrox yesterday despite being without the two key players who are the subject of transfer speculation.

Valdas Ivanauskas took the unusual step on the eve of the Rangers clash to name five players who were attracting interest from other clubs.

None of the stars mentioned featured at Ibrox. Ivanauskas later blamed football politics although he insisted Gordon had a groin problem - despite Berra claiming he was OK in training.

Harltey looks on his way to Rangers while Gordon is attracting interest from the Premiership.

But while Berra will be sad to see them go, he insists Hearts could cope.

He said: "Craig and Paul are quality, experienced players who have done well for Hearts - but we've a big squad with a lot of quality.

"There are always players who can step in and do a good job - as the likes of Steve Banks and Andrew Driver have shown. That's what a squad is for.

"Craig and Paul have done a lot for the club and they've got to be given so much credit. But players move on and if they go, others replace them.

"You've just got to move on.

"It would be a hard task to replace these guys, and it might take a lot of money, but I'm sure it's possible.

"They might go to bigger clubs on the back of their performances for us but there are always replacements.

"Just look at Manchester United, Arsenal and even the Old Firm - they all do it. It's like a conveyer belt.

"We only found out the two weren't playing when the team was named at the usual pre-match meeting around 12.30pm.

"Maybe there was a bit of shock but we're all professionals and had to get on with it.

"Craig has been fine in training. Obviously it's a manager and club situation.

"It's down to them how this is resolved - I can't do anything about it.

"There's been a lot of changes but we just come in and regardless of who is playing we just get on with it. Our job was to concentrate on the game. After we cross that white line we know we've to do a job.

"The press must love Hearts but as players we just ignore everything going on.

"We must stay professional, turn up for training every day and work as hard as we can for the games on a Saturday afternoon."

This draw means it's just one win in the last ELEVEN games against Rangers for Hearts who pipped the Ibrox side to second spot in the SPL last season.

A repeat of that now looks unlikely as they trail Gers by five points - but Berra isn't giving up hope despite the turmoil at Tynecastle.

Pointing to yesterday's battling Jambos performance, he said: "The fight for second place will go down the wire.

"I know we've not done well compared with last season but we're still just five points off second place.

"Some other clubs would take that any day. Ibrox is a hard place to come to and get points and with Rangers having appointed a new manager they were always going to be up for it.

"But our boys worked extremely hard and felt we deserved a point at least.

"We had a couple of chances - as did Rangers - but in the end a draw was probably fair.

"On another day we might have got a couple of goals but we still deserve credit.

"Gers put us under a bit of pressure in the last 10 minutes which you expect them to do on their own patch.

"But we held out, concentrated well and it's another clean sheet.

"It's an honour to be the captain. This was my fourth time wearing the armband.

"I doesn't affect my game. I just go out, skipper or not, and do what I'd usually do.

"I try to impress the manager so I can play week in, week out.

"There might be extra responsibility involved but I know there are others more experienced than me to help drive on the team."

Taken from the Sunday Mail