Hearts pondering a pre-season trip to Italy

HEARTS could be heading to Italy to prepare for the start of next season as Jim Jefferies continues to try to stamp his mark on the club.

Jefferies has revealed to the Evening News that the Il Ciocco complex in the Tuscan Hills is one of the facilities being considered for the Tynecastle side's summer training camp.

First discovered by Graeme Souness when he was in charge of Rangers, Il Ciocco has been Jefferies' favoured close-season base over the past few years.

He took Hearts there during his first spell in charge of the Gorgie club and was a regular visitor during his time at Kilmarnock.

"We are discussing various options, one of which is Il Ciocco," said Jefferies today. "We can't plan anything yet due to the possibility that the fifth team in SPL might get into Europe. As a result, plans for the summer are having to be organised a bit later than normal.

"But we know all about Il Cioccco. We know that it runs like clockwork and that the facilities are first class. It's a great location that the players enjoy. It's about going somewhere that there are no distractions. It's about eating, sleeping and training – nothing else."

No matter where Hearts head in the summer, Jefferies is hoping they go there with a spring in their step as result of finishing in the top six in the SPL this season.

With two games to go before the split, St Johnstone's shock win over Rangers earlier in the week has seen them close within two points of the Capital side – but Jefferies insists it's all going to come down to how his players perform in the next 180 minutes of football.

Looking ahead to a trip to Paisley tomorrow to face St Mirren and then a Tynecastle clash with Kilmarnock next Saturday, Jefferies said: "The most important thing is that it is in our hands. If we win our next two games, St Johnstone can't do anything about it (pipping Hearts for sixth spot].

"We have to step up to the plate, though, because there are no easy games in the SPL and St Mirren picked themselves up amazingly from their recent Cup final disappointment against Rangers to beat Celtic. That showed what they are capable of and they also played extremely well against us in the semi-finals of that competition.

"It means a lot to Hearts financially to finish in the top six as it will mean bigger gates between now and the end of the season and, of course, another derby.

"The higher up the league you finish the better the budget you get the following season and it is up to the players to go out and show in these next two games that they realise the situation."

In addition to goalkeepers Marian Kello and Janos Balogh, Hearts will almost certainly still be without Jose Goncalves, Dawid Kucharski and Michael Stewart while doubts also surround Andrew Driver, Jason Thomson, Gordon Smith and Ryan Stevenson.