Pospisil: let's play for keeps

MICHAL POSPISIL today called on Hearts to pull out the stops to keep Craig Gordon, insisting the club cannot afford to lose another Scottish leader from their dressing-room.

The Czech striker has seen Steven Pressley and Paul Hartley quit the club in recent months for Celtic and the highly-rated Gordon is widely expected to head for the Tynecastle exit himself at the end of the season after attracting interest from Fulham and Spartak Moscow.

However, Pospisil believes the goalkeeper, who remains as club captain despite being dropped for last week's SPL match with Rangers, has a vital role to play at Tynecastle, both on and off the park.

He said: "It is important that Craig stays at the club because he is a Scottish player. He is just a young player but he is also very experienced. The goalkeeper is a very important position and he can organise our defence. He is very good in the dressing-room, too, now because we need a leader in there right now, especially a Scottish player.

"It is a positive thing that he is staying.

"He showed last season and this season as well that he had some great saves and he won lots of points for us too. If we keep him I think that we can do very well until the end of the season."

However, Hearts coach Valdas Ivanauskas, who admitted that he hopes the end of the transfer window will also signal an end to the constant speculation surrounding the club, refused to reveal whether Scotland's No.1 goalkeeper would line up against Dunfermline in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup this afternoon, insisting that Steve Banks had done enough in last weekend's match against Rangers to put himself in the frame for another start: "Craig Gordon is in the squad. Steve has done well in the games, it's good to have two good keepers in the team. With Craig we have a strong team.

"But Steve Banks did well in the games he was in the goal. These discussions are not big discussions, maybe for other people.

"Craig is a good keeper and clever person but it is not possible to play everyone every week. We can only have 11 players out on the pitch but in the squad we have maybe 26, we can't keep all of them happy all of the time. They must just wait and work hard to get their chance. Craig may be unhappy but I know that he is a good keeper. I know his situation and he remains mentally focused."

And the Lithuanian insists that there are still enough Scottish players at Tynecastle to ensure that the club does not lose its identity, adding: "Without Steven and Paul we have other Scottish players and you see how important Christophe Berra and Neil McCann are and we have Calum Elliot back. He is a young boy but if he works hard he has a chance to be leader in the team.

"We sell players, we buy players, it's normal in football. After a good season like last season for Hearts football club, every team needs changing. We have a big squad with quality players. They must show how good they are to play for Hearts. I hope I have a stronger squad.

"It's very important to have happy players here. If players think about changing, it's not good. Mentally they are not ready, mentally they are away. I had a good relationship with Paul and I understand the situation with him and I can understand how he wants to play football. He is an international player and he has three or four good football years left. He has left and it's a normal situation for football."

The Lithuanian admitted that Hartley is a huge loss to his side but insisted that he has enough quality players at his disposal to replace him.

He said: "Paul has left the club. He was a great player, a big player for Hearts and he was one of our best players last season, not only in our team but in the Scottish league. We miss him, definitely, but this is a business and now other players can show how good they are.

"It's a good situation for Paul. He asked to leave two years ago. We said no but now the situation is that he has left the club. We need to find our 11 strongest players. "We have had injury problems but we are very, very close to finding them."

Berra may miss out today and Ivanauskas has a host of other injury worries for today's game, although he refused to reveal the identities of those players who will face late tests.

The Hearts coach expects a tough test against the side who are rooted to the foot of the SPL table, but dumped Rangers out of the competition in the last round, adding: "We know exactly how difficult it is going to be against Dunfermline because they beat Rangers in the last round.

"It's a cup game and for them I think it's their last chance. The situation in the SPL is difficult for Dunfermline."

Taken from the Scotsman