Hearts fans need to be kept in the picture

Although Europe has yet to be secured - and it could well be by the time the match kicks off depending on the outcome of Dundee Utd's match at Ibrox tonight - Hearts have treated their fans to a fine season on the pitch. They have been the form side outside of the Old Firm, at one point threatening to challenge the big two, and the emergence of youngsters such as David Templeton, the arrival of new fans' favourites, such as Kevin Kyle, and a dominance over rivals Hibs have given Jambos a campaign to remember.

Therefore, the Marius Zaliukas-Marian Kello saga, which will almost certainly take centre stage ahead of matters on the field of play, threatens to eclipse all good that occurred in Gorgie this season. With both players absent in Hearts' 4-0 defeat to Rangers last Saturday, the Jambos looked a pale imitation of the side that ruthlessly preyed on SPL opposition - including the Old Firm - during the winter.

The fact that Kello and Zaliukas' omissions have come on owner Vladimir Romanov's say-so rather than more traditional reasons, such as a drop in form, takes more gloss from the achievements on the pitch. Kello was already ostracised from first-team duty before Saturday, the keeper left cooling his jets in the stand due to a "private matter" which, as yet, appears unresolved. Romanov's command seemed even more baffling considering Hearts boss Jim Jefferies making no secret of his admiration for the Slovak, calling him "world class" and on more than one occasion labelling him as his "first-choice keeper".

Kello's contribution this season was recognised by his team-mates and the club's supporters, who voted him their player of the year. He won Clydesdale Bank's save of the season award, and the last time he strung together a number of appearances he received February's SPL award for the league's best player. All this, however, is being shrouded by the mystery of his continued absence from the side.

Zaliukas' impact on the team has been important too. The current skipper has banished regular mistakes that haunted him in previous years to become the glue in the Hearts defence. Therefore, Romanov's latest episode of meddling, withdrawing him from the squad before Saturday's match, appeared baffling. Jefferies was unable to offer a reason for having to field two midfielders, Eggert Jonsson and Adrian Mrowiec, at centre back to compensate for the loss of his captain, but it has been suggested that Romanov has since reasoned he was protecting his countryman Zaliukas from the likelihood of receiving a red card at Ibrox from referee Iain Brines, an official who has twice dismissed the temperamental centre half in the last three years.

Whether or not than reason will stand up tomorrow night depends on Jefferies' ability to reinstate Zaliukas, but the tinkering has been done and Jefferies, who insisted when he re-joined the club as coach in January 2010 that he would pick the team, had his authority cast in doubt.

It has also left the fans who will file into Tynecastle tomorrow night with mixed emotions. Only weeks ago, the last home match of the season would have been seen as a moment of celebration, marking the progression of the club from fairly flimsy showings in the last couple of years. All the good work of the past eight months looks seriously under-threat as the Kello-Zaliukas situation dominates proceedings.

Naturally, these supporters will be keen to hear more on what has prompted the disappearance of two of their top players, and a former fans' favourite, defender Dave McPherson, thinks the Jambos faithful has a right to know why they have been deprived of their best team.

"I don't know circumstances behind it, but it's something I think fans are entitled to know why," said McPherson, 47. "The fans pay week in, week out. They are loyal supporters who pay good money to see their best team play, and if that's not happening - unless it's due to suspension or injury - the fans deserve to know why." Despite the hindrance of being without the backbone of their first-choice defence, Hearts will, thinks McPherson, go on to secure third place. The former central defender reckons the Jambos will recover from the defeat to Rangers to claim a point at home to Celtic tomorrow night. "Big Slim", a living legend cherished by fans in Gorgie, cited a weakened defence as the cause of Hearts' capitulation against Rangers and said Zaliukas is an integral part of the backline.

"I think that's where they struggled," he said. "Losing four goals, you could tell the players in defence hadn't played together before.

"If you go to places like Parkhead and Ibrox, you want your strongest team. Zaliukas has played very well this season, so obviously he's going to be a big miss."

Having never experienced a similar situation in his own playing days, McPherson finds it difficult to empathise with the mental turmoil that those taking to the field for Hearts must have endured upon learning prior to kick-off that their captain would be mysteriously absent from the fixture. However, he believes that if one positive emerged from the whole farce, it was the unexpected and successful debut of midfielder Ryan McGowan, who filled in where normally Adrian Mrowiec and often Eggert Jonsson would start.

McPherson admits, "I've never experienced that situation, so I don't know what it'd feel like.

"I could only speak from experience when players are injured, and you just have to get on with it.

"It's always an opportunity for other players. Ryan McGowan was one of the better players for Hearts.

"It's a big ask at Ibrox, but he performed well."

It is performances such as McGowan's that should be the topic of conversation ahead of the visit of Celtic. Hearts fans, at the very least, will be hoping that their best team takes to the field soon and that internal matters are resolved, for their season should be remembered and celebrated tomorrow in their final match of the season at home for achievements on the field, not matters off it.