Hearts' Intertoto Euro vision

Head coach Valdas Ivanauskas and Campbell Ogilvie, the club's operations director, have held tentative discussions on the matter and will proceed with an application to UEFA to enter the tournament if it becomes their only route to European football.

Hearts' principle aim is to secure second place in the SPL and attain a Champions League qualifying berth for next season outright. Failing that, third place would take them into the UEFA Cup, however Ivanauskas admitted contingency plans are being discussed in case the club finishes outwith the regular European places.

Scotland is entitled to bypass the first stage of the three-round Intertoto Cup and enter a representative in the second round, as happened last season when Hibs overcame the Latvian side Dinaburg before losing to Odense of Denmark in the third round.

Majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov is understood to be keen for Hearts to participate in European competition by whichever means is viable, especially since progress through rounds two and three of the restructured Intertoto tournament would secure the club a place in the UEFA Cup's final qualifying stage.

"If the situation is so that we are not in any other European tournaments, then we need to think about it," said Ivanauskas. "I spoke with our management team and I spoke with Campbell about the Intertoto Cup. It was only a few words because we are not thinking too much about it at this stage.

"We have other targets but we are talking about every possibility. It's too early to say just now if we will play in the Intertoto for definite because there are three months of the season left. We are talking about it at the moment."

Ivanauskas is concerned by the Intertoto Cup's early start date. Entering would see Hearts' season resume on the weekend of July 7/8 in the second round, with the return leg the following weekend. Other nations expected to enter clubs in the second round include Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic and Turkey.

Progress into the third and final stage would bring two further matches on July 21/22 and 28/29, with the winners of those 11 ties moving into the second and final qualifying round for the UEFA Cup.

"The first Intertoto game is always very early, which is not good for our pre-season preparations, but we will think it over," said Ivanauskas.

The Scottish Football Association have until March 10 to notify UEFA about how many clubs they intend to enter in the Intertoto Cup. In most cases, this will be restricted to one. Hearts have until May to give a definitive decision on whether they wish to play in the competition, and must apply to do so through the SFA by June 4.

Meanwhile, Romanov has become the subject of a Scottish Premier League investigation following his recent comments in a Russian football magazine, when he accused Rangers and Celtic of buying off players. The SPL have written to Hearts to request an explanation for the allegations, and could take action depending on the response.

Romanov denies accusing the Old Firm of also buying off Scottish referees.

Midfielder Julien Brellier has incurred a three-match suspension following his booking against St Mirren on Saturday, which comes into effect next month.

• A LATE second half double from 18-year-old David Templeton earned Hearts Under-19s a 2-2 draw against East of Scotland Premier Division leaders Spartans at Riccarton last night. Romanian teenager Dumitru Copil also played in the match.