Jefferies is confident Old Firm challenge will continue

A BULLISH Jim Jefferies challenged his team to maintain their title challenge when they take a trip to Parkhead on Wednesday night. With eight wins from their nine matches on the road in the SPL this season, the Hearts manager said his players should travel to Glasgow with nothing but victory on their minds.

"With our record away from home, we have nothing to fear," said Jefferies, in the wake of a stirring win over the champions.

"If we win there, then it would put us more and more in the hunt. It's in our own hands. Who would bet against us?"

Jefferies declared this win as a result not just for Hearts but for the league as a whole, a sentiment that their neighbours from across the city would, no doubt, dispute but you knew exactly where he was coming from all the same.

"Rangers didn't allows us to play, so we had to dig in and had to show determination," he said. "It was our togetherness that got us through. It was a victory for spirit."

Having seen his team deliver their most impressive display at Tynecastle in four years and still get beaten, Walter Smith stated clearly that Hearts have now become a serious player in this championship race. "They've got a toughness about them," said Smith of Jefferies' side. "I don't see anything in their play to say they'll get weaker as the season goes on. It's a welcome challenge. We are consumed in Scotland about the size of the league but you don't need a big league if you have a level of competition and Hearts are supplying that."

Smith was a frustrated man. He was pleased in the sense that his team had performed well, but dejected and a little bewildered that they'd managed to lose the game. "In the first half we were really excellent but anytime we got through, the Hearts goalkeeper has made some fantastic saves," he said.

Asked if Hearts have it in them to go to Parkhead and Ibrox in the next ten days and keep their challenge alive, Smith was clear: "They're steady enough (to do it] They're playing extremely well and don't lose a lot of goals."

High praise from the old master.