Pospisil: We are weaker but it's not for me to criticise Vlad

MICHAL POSPISIL has admitted he saw his hopes of another Scottish Cup medal take a hammer blow when Steven Pressley and Paul Hartley left Tynecastle.

Pospisil, who turned down a move to Bristol City in the January transfer window, was in the squad for today's fourth-round trip to Dunfermline as Hearts continued their bid to retain the trophy they won on penalty kicks last season.

The Czech striker refused to criticise club owner Vladimir Romanov for allowing two of his biggest stars to quit the club for Celtic, their main title rivals last season. However he did reveal his disappointment at losing both players' influence, not only from the team, but from the dressing room.

Pospisil said: "It will be more difficult for us to retain the trophy because we have lost two experienced players but there is still quality here.

"I hope that we can make it into the last eight and we know that we are only three games away from another final.

"It is a special competition, it is not like the league, and I am still positive because it gives other players a chance to show that they have quality and I am sure that they will want to impress."

While clearly disappointed at the loss of two of the club's star players, the Hearts hitman played Devil's Advocate, insisting that he could see the financial benefit of Hartley's move to Parkhead.

But he conceded that the 29-year-old playmaker will be extremely difficult to replace in the Tynecastle starting line-up: "It is unusual for a club to sell their best players but it depends on the financial situation.

"Some clubs sell their best players every year, some just one player and some want to keep the best players in their team until the end of the season. If you have a good offer and it is the right time to sell the player, it is up to the board and the president to make that decision.

"I have to see the situation from both sides.

"Maybe the offer for Paul was very good. He is a great player and very ambitious, maybe he wanted to play at the highest level that he could.

"He maybe spoke with the board and decided that he wanted to leave, or maybe the board decided to sell him because he wanted to go.

"To be honest I am disappointed, of course I am, I don't like to see the good players going away from Hearts because it makes us weaker.

"Paul was excellent and was a real playmaker for us and we don't have anyone who is exactly the same typ of player that he is.

"He is a big loss for us, he was able to decide a game. He played very well from set-pieces, was capable of changing a game and dictated the tempo.

"Playmaker is a very important position in the team, we have a lot of players in our squad, lots of options and cover, but this position is something extra, something special."

Pospisil could also have been heading for the Tynecastle exit last week after Hearts agreed a fee with Coca Cola League One side Bristol City to take him south of the Border but the player himself, while admitting he was flattered by the interest, is determined to fight for his place in Valdas Ivanauskas' side.

He added: "I was close to becoming a Bristol City player. I got an invitation from them and went down to see them and spoke with the manager. I was really impressed by them, I was flattered because they showed a lot of interest in me.

"It just wasn't right for me, I had a condition that I wanted to be included in my contract because I wanted to be able to play in the Championship if a club came in for me in the summer but it wasn't possible. My decision had nothing to do with money, it was about my ambitions.

"I had a lot to consider, I had to think about my family and I would have had to move. I decided that I didn't want to say goodbye to Hearts yet.

"I still want to fight for my place, I will look at the situation again in the summer though and can make a decision more easily because I will know the situation here more clearly.

"I like to finish the season where I started it if it is possible and I still feel that we can achieve things here, maybe the cups, maybe Europe."

Taken from the Scotsman