Jefferies calls on Hearts to bounce back

HEARTS manager Jim Jefferies has challenged his players to respond instantly following last night's defeat by Celtic and restore confidence by beating St Johnstone at Tynecastle on Saturday.

Keen to move on swiftly from the 4-0 loss at Parkhead, Jefferies said today that the build-up to the weekend's encounter will centre around motivating his players.

The demoralising defeat, which ended an impressive sequence of 11 league matches without defeat, will not be allowed to linger in the mind as Jefferies, his assistant Billy Brown and first-team coach Gary Locke set about ensuring Hearts return to winning form immediately.

"It's hard to be critical of the players because we knew we were going to get a defeat along the way," said the manager. "Because of the hype surrounding last night's game a lot will be said about it but it's about how we bounce back now.

"We lost two quality goals and two shockers, that is down to our fault. For the last 25 minutes we were all over the place.

"We're just going to forget about it because the players don't deserve to be criticised too heavily. It's one game that didn't work out for us but it will be about how they bounce back now.

"We will be firing them up in the dressing room. We'll take whatever everyone is going to say about being champions and all the rest of it. We've never said that.

"We're going to go and try to have a good season. We have to show that we will be out there on Saturday thinking of nothing but bouncing back. That will be our most important game now."