Jefferies laying his cards on the table

HEARTS' discipline is much improved since the infamous Battle of New Douglas Park in December 2009. Without such a tightening of rules and conduct, Jim Jefferies believes their recent prosperity would have been impossible.

The Edinburgh club return to the scene of the crime tomorrow when they visit Hamilton Academical. They were fined 10,000 by the SFA for having four players plus the team masseur red carded in Lanarkshire 14 months ago, only weeks before Jefferies rejoined as manager.

Upon taking charge from Csaba Laszlo he set out a clear code of conduct which he feels, as much as anything, has been the catalyst for Hearts' recent sequence of just two defeats in 14 league games.

"We are concentrating on the football side of things and there are a lot of reasons for that," explained Jefferies. "There was an indoor code of conduct talked about at the start of the season because the discipline couldn't continue with the amount of money (it cost us). It affects people. Maybe they (the players) don't get as big a bonus as they did last year because that money has to be found somewhere.

"At the end of the day we all suffer but the boys have been great. I've had very few occasions to implement any of the rules because they are just concentrating on making sure they don't get booked and sent off for silly things. Somebody told me the other day that, up until last week, there were eight or nine red cards last season and we've only had one in the same period this year. There's been a massive improvement.

"The investigation into Hamilton was just after I took over. It was a clean slate for everybody and I've not had anything like that carry on. We spoke to them at the start of the season. We had to do it through Fraser Wishart (SPFA secretary) because in this day and age fining people is very difficult. We aren't out to fine them for every booking they get. Some are unjustified and some are genuine because they are trying to compete. It's silly stuff like talking back or throwing balls away or retaliation. It's all unacceptable.

"The fact that we're going well and the spirit's great and everyone's on a high, they forget about that side of it. They just try and compete. That's one of the big reasons I think we've been doing well. The other thing is you don't lose these players for long periods of time. Players were missing so many games. Marius Zaliukas missed four at the start of a season once. That's not happened this year so that's an improvement."

Hamilton's position at the bottom of the SPL makes them potentially dangerous opponents as they fight to haul themselves clear of relegation. "It will be a hard game," continued Jefferies. "I went to watch them last week and they had a couple of chances to score but Dundee United were the better side and deserved to win. They are a tough team. They are out the Cup now and it's about concentrating on the league. We went there last time and played extremely well. There's pressure on Hamilton to get results at home. Celtic drew there a few weeks ago so nothing is guaranteed. If we play well we can get a very important result for us."

Jefferies' key team selection issue surrounds the possible inclusion of Andy Webster, the defender who returned to Hearts last week and is in contention to start tomorrow.

"He's settled in fine," said Jefferies. "Last week when we were off for a couple of days he came in voluntarily and did a wee bit of training. Then he was raring to go this week so he's looked fine in training.

"One of the reasons we brought him in was because, when we've had an injury at the back, it has been players playing out of position to cover gaps. We didn't really have a young lad ready to go in. Getting somebody like Andy who knows the club well and has ability, it was important we got him when he became available. If anything happens at the back again he's ready to go in.

"Right from the start he puts the players under pressure and he's a quality player so he's got to be in consideration right at the start for every game. Whether we do that tomorrow will be for me to have a wee discussion with him and see how he feels. He's not had a lot of matches and the only way you get that is by playing.

"The other thing is he's a good talker. He can bring on young boys. You see how well he brought on the boy Kenneth at Dundee United when he was there on loan. Kenneth had a great season and I think that was a lot to do with Andy. Peter (Houston) has gone on record as saying he was a really good influence on Kenneth. He will be a big help. I think he's a natural leader."

Some supporters may be opposed to Webster's reappearance in a maroon shirt following his controversial departure from Tynecastle five years ago, but Jefferies believes the majority will back his decision. "The general consensus is that there are more in favour of him coming back than not. What happened was unfortunate but it's in the past. Most of the fans are delighted he's here because the bottom line is he's a quality player. They know how good he was when he was last here and then an unfortunate thing happened. But you get on with it.

"I had the same problem when I first came to the club with Laryea Kingston. He wasn't popular with the fans because of some things that went on prior to me coming in. I sort of battled his case and put him back in and he was outstanding for us. The fans took to him because they saw he was prepared to put it in for us at that time.

"We have to forget what's happened in the past. This is a new start for Andy. He could have gone to other clubs for a lot more but we're just delighted to get him. I think you'll find that if he goes out and plays well, the fans will be right behind him. That's what I hope they do."

Even Vladimir Romanov, the majority shareholder who publicly fell out with Webster during the final months of his first spell at Hearts, recognised the wisdom of the signing. "The owner knows Andy is a quality player, that's why we were given the go-ahead to see if we could take it further."

Jefferies is likely to be without Kevin Kyle again tomorrow and he admits it is looking more likely that the bustling striker will require surgery to cure an ongoing groin problem. "It's very close now. He's received another injection and he's just got to crash on in training with the physio to see if there's any reaction to that. If there's no reaction then we can get him back in. If he still feels it, then that's the last thing we can do. We've done everything we can and it'll just be a case of looking at further surgery. He would be out for four or five weeks if that happened.

"The injection needs a couple of days to settle down and kick in. We'll give him every chance."

Andy Driver is in the manager's thoughts for Hamilton, although Calum Elliot is still absent and David Obua and Suso Santana are rated doubtful.