Hearts boss impressed as his star player Rudi Skacel trades adulation for hard graft

The Hearts manager has been hugely impressed by Skacel's attitude both on and off the pitch since his return to the club after a four-year absence in September.

His hat-trick against St Mirren last weekend brought back wonderful memories for Hearts supporters and Jefferies believes that Skacel is already going some way to recreating the form that saw him become a fans' favourite back when he first arrived at Hearts from Panathinaikos in 2005.

Apart from knowing how to hit the back of the net, Jefferies says that Skacel's biggest quality is knowing how to be cocky on the park, but also a hard-working, unassuming character in the dressing room.

Jefferies said: "Rudi has been great since he came into the club. One thing we have found is that he gets a lot of adulation on the pitch and some people think that he is arrogant or full of himself.

"But, to be honest, that's the right place to be full of yourself and arrogant - on the pitch.

"We have got absolutely no complaints about that because he is a different bloke when he comes in for training through the week. He just gets on with his work, he is a good professionally, he works extremely hard and there is never a minute's problem with him.

"Sometimes when players come back to a club for a second time it is a little bit of gamble and you maybe have a few concerns about it but I think that he has come back a far more experienced player.

"I didn't see an awful lot of him when he was here before but he is doing well for the team, he is not just playing as an individual, he is taking up a shape in the team that we are happy with and he is now contributing with the goals that we knew he had in him. It was great that he got his hat-trick last weekend."

When Skacel's return to Hearts was confirmed, it was said that neither Jefferies or his number two Billy Brown were over the moon with Vladimir Romanov's latest acquisition.

However the Hearts manager insisted today that was never the case, stressing that he and his assistant had simply been focusing their attentions on other areas of the park.

Jefferies continued: "When he came back to the club he knew himself that he wasn't fit. I didn't plan to play him for so long up at Aberdeen, I thought that maybe after an hour or so I would have to think about changing it, that was only his second start, but we were up 1-0, we looked comfortable and you don't want to change your shape in that situation.

"Fitness wise he was doing well, the only reason that we took him off a couple of minutes from the end of the game was just to run down the clock more than anything else.

"When he first came in he was always away doing extra stuff on his own to get his fitness up.

"He has got a determination about him to get into the Czech Republic squad and I think that he wants to maybe make up a bit for leaving. Some people say that he should never have left but I'm sure he wanted to have a crack at English football.

"People asked at the time whether we really wanted him here but it was never a case of that, it was just that our priorities at that time lay in a different area.

"We were quite happy to have him.

"Everyone obviously wondered whether he would be able to get back to his best for the club and I think that he is certainly on the way to doing that.

"The extra experience he has now will be a big thing for us, especially with so many youngsters about the club and on the training pitch he is different class."

Jefferies' side have certainly seen an upturn in form and results in recent weeks, their convincing win over St Mirren last weekend preceded by a 1-0 victory over Aberdeen at Pittodrie and a decent performance against Rangers that ended in a narrow 2-1 loss to Walter Smith's side at Tynecastle.

And Jefferies believes that, in part, can be put down to the camaraderie and spirit his players have developed over the past few months: "We have been speaking about this in the last wee while. When we first came in, we felt that things were maybe a little bit flat for whatever reason.

"But we have been in the game long enough to know that one of the things that helps you try and move on and be a bit more successful, is having a bit more spirit about the camp.

"That is something that we have got a lot of experience of doing and we pulled them all together and everyone gets on, there is a far better atmosphere now.

"This side gets on, they mix well and we have got some characters like Kevin Kyle at the club now that help get the spirit going in the dressing room, Gary Locke does the same. We have been playing well the last couple of games so that just helps add to the confidence side of things as well and the boys are looking forward to coming into training, which is great."

Jefferies' side come up against Kilmarnock tomorrow and he will be hoping they can continue to build on their recent displays.

While he has been pleased by the way that his side have gone about their business though, he is certain that Hearts will be an even more difficult proposition in the next couple of weeks when they return to full strength again.

"I think we have showed potential in the last couple of games - even against Rangers we were a bit unlucky - and we have still got Lee Wallace, Andrew Driver and David Obua to come back into the side as well and make us stronger.

"When we have got our strongest team out on the pitch then the competition for places is going to be good for us, so that helps as well."

This will be the second time that Jefferies has come up against his old side since returning to Tynecastle as manager of Hearts and he admits that he is relishing the prospect of locking horns with the Rugby Park outfit again.

The last time the two sides clashed, Hearts were the victors in more ways than one, their 1-0 win also earning them a crucial spot in the top six.

Jefferies said: "They have made a lot of changes.

"Billy was down watching them against Rangers on Wednesday night and they played a lot of good football. "They are not to be taken lightly so we will give them every respect, we know that we will be in for a tough game but we know that we have got to keep up our form."