Get third and then we will talk, JJ tells Hearts' out-of-contract stars

For Skacel and Stevenson, it is merely a case of invoking an option to retain them for next season. However, Bouzid and Palazuelos will be free agents at the end of the season along with some fringe members of the squad including the Polish defender Dawid Kucharski, who is certain to leave.

Hearts travel to the Highlands tomorrow with an eight-point advantage over Dundee United in third place. Victory would increase that margin to 11 as United are inactive until Tuesday evening, when they entertain Rangers. Cementing third and ensuring a return to European football is a pre-requisite for deciding on next season's squad, according to the manager. "We've done nothing on contracts," said Jefferies. "There has been plenty in the papers about talks but if we get finished in the place we want to be quickly, then we'll start to make moves. I've had tentative discussions with the owners but nothing will be decided or discussed further until we get third place tied down.

"Nothing will be discussed with any player under contract, wanting a new contract, in or out of the plans, until we get third place. I'll decide, when we get third place, the changes I want to make and the players I want to keep for next season. I won't be doing anything or saying anything until then. We need to focus on third, the rest will take care of itself. If the players go out and get third place it always makes it that bit easier.

"When you finish third, the expectation level is to at least finish third again or put in a better challenge to the Old Firm. You then have to assess your squad because you do want to bring in players to try and improve that.

"Some players are under contract, some are out of contract. But even the ones under contract, it doesn't mean to say they'll be here. We might get an offer for somebody that we can't turn down and they might want to move on."

Hearts have stuttered somewhat of late as a combination of injuries and suspensions has dictated regular changes to the starting XI. One win from their last six outings is evidence of the effect of players like Kevin Kyle and Lee Wallace sitting in the stand. However, Jefferies explained the difficulties of maintaining the scintillating form his team produced over the winter period which underpinned the rise to third. "We put in a fantastic run to get there," he said. "You always know that, when suspensions and injuries kick in, it's never straightforward. You need to give Dundee United credit for a fantastic run themselves. It's not easy to do that and, like us, it's very hard to keep it going.

"As I've said, I'd much rather be in our position and I'm sure they would. They know they have to keep winning so that if we do slip up they can take advantage.

"We need to go into tomorrow's game knowing we have to win it. We played a form team last week (Motherwell] and didn't win. The week before (against Hibs] we could have won if we'd kept 11 players on the park. Inverness is a difficult place to win but if we get three points it puts pressure on Dundee United to get the gap back to eight points again. That's the target. It's in our hands and that's what you want.

"Of course it would be failure if we didn't do it. That's not just because of the lead we had, it's because we set out to be third at the start of the season. People have been making a big thing because we've only won one of our last six matches, but we've only lost two. The teams who beat us were in good form.

Jefferies' injury problems show little sign of dissipating before the end of such a gruelling campaign. "We still have a few niggles with players like Rudi, Suso, and Driver so it's a bit stop-start with these boys. You just have to assess them the day before the game. Sometimes you don't know until they turn up on the day.

"It would be ideal if we could get the third place tied up and then make decisions to give them a longer rest. Then you could encourage one or two younger players or others who haven't been playing much."

The most conspicuous absentee is Kevin Kyle, who may now miss the start of pre-season training after undergoing two operations inside four weeks. Jefferies intends to recruit a back-up forward for the imposing Scotland internationalist in time for next season. "We were flying there for a while and Kevin was a big part of that," he said.

"He wasn't a one-man team, don't get me wrong, because you can't work like that. With Kevin being out, we don't really have another player like that so we might have to see if we can look at some options in the summer in case he doesn't play every game next year."

Stephen Elliott and Ryan Stevenson are again expected to lead the attack against Inverness, and Jefferies admitted he is unsure how the opposition will view the match given they will play bottom-six football after the SPL split.

"Is it better for them to be under pressure to make the top six? Or can they just go out and relax and enjoy it? You'll never know," he mused. "They want to finish top of the bottom six because financially every position means more. Terry Butcher will be trying to make as much money as he can to help his budget for bringing players in. We'll be expecting a very tough match."