Stewart will stay Hearts' captain for now

Published on Tuesday 9 February 2010 09:08

HEARTS boss Jim Jefferies is not planning to look at the club's captaincy until the end of the season, meaning Michael Stewart is likely to keep the armband until the current campaign is finished.

The former Manchester United midfielder was appointed by Csaba Laszlo at the start of the season following the departure of Robbie Neilson to Leicester City last summer.

Stewart has had an eventful season, having been jeered off by his own fans who did not know he was playing with an ankle injury in a game against Falkirk at Tynecastle.

He also stated he'd no longer be co-operating with the written press after claiming he'd been "shown a complete lack of respect" over comments about Hibs, one of his former clubs.

But, while Jefferies wasted little time in stamping his own mark on the team by making Gary Locke his captain during his first spell in charge of Hearts, he's not going to be rushed into anything on this occasion.

"It's too early to be making a decision about the captaincy," said the Hearts manager. "I'll let things ride. If I need to do it for any reason, I will but, at the moment, I am looking more to next season."

Meanwhile, Jefferies is resigned to being without Ruben Palazuelos for six weeks.

The midfielder, 26, suffered a knee injury in the SPL match against Aberdeen recently.

He travelled to London last week to consult a specialist and was told he needs several weeks' rest before he can consider a return to training.

"Ruben has been to see a specialist and isn't to do anything for three weeks," said Jefferies. "Hopefully the rest he gets will help but he certainly will be missing for at least five or six weeks."

Teenage striker Scott Robinson faces a similar length of time on the sidelines, while Andrew Driver is set to miss tomorrow's league clash with Celtic.

The winger suffered a reaction to his knee problem during the Co-operative Insurance Cup semi-final defeat by St Mirren at Fir Park last Tuesday.

"Andrew has had a wee reaction," said Jefferies. "The pitch wasn't the best for someone coming back from an injury like that.

"But he's improving as the days go on. It looked like he could be out for a couple of weeks but he says he's feeling better."

Meanwhile, the Hearts boss revealed Marian Kello has already established himself as his first-choice goalkeeper.

The Slovakian has started both the SPL game against St Johnstone and the League Cup clash with St Mirren.

Jefferies, who has told Janos Balogh he will have to fight to reclaim the gloves, said: "He looks to me like a safe pair of hands.

"A lot of crosses which have come in he has dealt with well.

"He couldn't have done anything about the winner in the semi-final and, in fact, he saved us on a couple of occasions and kept us in the game at a crucial time.

"If we had gone 2-0 down, we might have lost by more. We have been very impressed by him."

&#149 BOBBY DOUGAN, who played more than 120 league games for Hearts in the 1940s and 1950s, has died at the age of 83.

The defender joined the Tynecastle club from Shawfield Juniors in 1946 and left for Kilmarnock in 1954.