Hearts set to face Robbo's East Fife side

HEARTS' first pre-season friendly will involve a reunion with the club's record goalscorer John Robertson, whose East Fife side host their Edinburgh counterparts at Bayview Stadium on Tuesday, July 5.

The match will be Hearts' first outing of the summer following a seven-day training camp in Italy the previous week.

It is sure to prove popular with supporters keen to see new signings John Sutton, Jamie Hamill and Danny Grainger in action.

Robertson had been keen to involve Hearts in a quadrangular tournament alongside Raith Rovers and Southend. However, the Methil manager will happily settle for an attractive one-off game against the club where he earned legendary status during the 1980s and 90s.

The match is scheduled to kick-off at 7.45pm and Hearts will take a strong squad across the Forth as their pre-season preparations gather pace after Italy.

Further friendly matches are to be announced in due course with club officials busily working to confirm several fixtures in the lead up to the Europa League third qualifying round first leg on July 28.

Meanwhile, Hearts' season ticket sales are expected to reach the 10,000 mark before the new campaign starts as supporters continue to back their club following last season's success.

It would be the sixth successive year that season ticket sales reached five figures, an indication of the excitement ahead of Hearts' return to European football. David Southern, managing director at Tynecastle, is delighted with the uptake. He said: "Season ticket sales are certainly in line with where we want to be. Hopefully European football will attract more."