Jim Jefferies: 'I'll deal with it differently next time'

The Tynecastle manager was irate when told on Saturday that he could not play Marius Zaliukas or Marian Kello against Rangers at Ibrox - a game his weakened Hearts side lost 4-0 - and rumours that he had resigned swept Edinburgh. Speaking at Riccarton yesterday, Jefferies said he had moved quickly to quash those rumours, though he admitted that he had assessed the situation before telling club officials he was staying.

And, while he appeared to have swallowed his pride and accepted Romanov's edict at the weekend, his statement that he would not respond in the same way again can only mean he will be less compliant the next time the Kaunas-based businessman interferes in team selection.

"If what happened happens again, I will manage it in a different way," Jefferies said. "I don't know if it will happen again. It's a situation where you try to work through it, but you get to the stage where you say I'll take it on board, what happened."

Asked if he thought his position had been undermined by Romanov to the extent that it had become intolerable, Jefferies replied: "Of course I've thought about it, but that's one thing I'll learn from and might handle a different way if it ever happened again. I've had quite a few people asking if the (resignation] rumours were right, and they were delighted they weren't.

"I informed David (Southern, Hearts' managing director] when I heard all the rumours. I said: 'You'd better just quash them now and say I've got no intentions of resigning'. I'd rather be there and try and sort the problem out."