Jim Jefferies insists Hearts will be ready

Jamie Hamill's late penalty was reward for Hearts' domination of the second half and provided an encouraging finish to pre-season preparations against Royal Antwerp.

The Belgians, backed by a vociferous and entertaining bunch of travelling fans, had largely controlled the first half without creating many clear openings. If that prompted consternation among home ranks, it was averted after the interval as Hearts' fitness handed them the initiative against opponents only two weeks into their pre-season schedule.

The trophy presented at full-time added a touch of sparkle to a typically low-key summer friendly. In truth, Zaliukas looked slightly uneasy accepting it. But for Hearts this was the final chance to hone fitness and sharpness ahead of the season-opening SPL encounter with Rangers at Ibrox.

"We'll be ready," said manager Jim Jefferies. "I'll work out what I'm going to do this week. One or two players have a wee bit to find but we'll work on the team in training on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Pre-season games are a necessity but sometimes they are a pain in the backside when you're trying to give everybody games. We might have an indoor practice game with the team we want to play (against Rangers).

"This was a good workout, a different type of game. You can see they are typical continentals. They go down when anybody's near them and they like to catch you when they haven't won the ball. I didn't think they were going to cause us problems. Our players were saying the rain and then the heat made it difficult, and I think the grass was slightly long.

"Players who like to run with the ball were getting it caught in their feet and some passes were a fraction short. Sometimes if the grass is too long it can take getting used to. We were too slow in moving the ball round and you need to move it quick to catch teams out. As a workout for giving everybody a run, it was fine."

Hearts started with all four of their new recruits - Hamill, Danny Grainger, John Sutton and Mehdi Taouil - in front of a decent home support supplemented by around 250 boisterous Belgian visitors. The first cheer emanated from the away end when Kevin Oris, the Antwerp captain, seized on a moment of hesitancy in the home defence only for goalkeeper Marian Kello to hold his left-footed attempt at goal.

Oris tried again with his right foot on 20 minutes, his effort curling over the crossbar.Hearts were toiling to fashion chances as Antwerp's short passing game saw them take command of possession. When the hosts did have the ball, they were guilty of giving it away cheaply and lacked creativity. Defensively, the presence of Oris was a constant menace to centre-backs Andy Webster and Zaliukas.

Grainger's 34th-minute free-kick following a foul by Thomas Phibel on Sutton produced Hearts' closest chance of the first period. The full-back's left-footed strike arced only inches wide. Minutes from the interval, he rampaged down the left before cutting inside and delivering a low shot across goal which begged for a lurking striker as it rolled wide.

Ryan McGowan replaced Webster at the interval, the Scot forced off by a groin problem, while Adrian Mrowiec made way for Arvydas Novikovas. Within seconds of the restart, Hamill was sliding in to block a driven shot from Antwerp's trialist Tossin Dosumbu. The same player then executed another effort after exchanging passes with Oris which was thwarted by McGowan.

With Taouil attempting to dictate midfield, Hearts began pressing forward in tandem with the sun emerging over Gorgie. Ryan Stevenson drove an impromptu shot goalwards on 55 minutes after a defensive ricochet, only for the Antwerp goalkeeper Theo Defourny to deny him. Taouil then surged forward and earned a free-kick 18 yards from goal in the inside left channel. The Moroccan internationalist rolled the ball sideways to Black for a venomous attempt which Defourny pushed clear at full stretch.

Just as the game looked destined for stalemate, a winning goal arrived via the penalty spot. Novikovas jinked beautifully away from Marvin Peersman on the right flank and was impeded by the full-back upon entering the 18-yard box. Hamill confidently stroked in the spot-kick to secure victory.

"I thought it was a stonewall penalty," said Jefferies. "Their keeper had already made two excellent saves. Hamill was one of the pluses, he had an excellent game. Grainger also did well, as did Lee Wallace when he came on. Stephen Elliott had an ear infection, he would have played. You could see we were struggling a bit up front because it's all the strikers who are injured. We had John Sutton in there but we're without Kevin Kyle, Gary Glen and Calum Elliot."

The attacking conundrum is likely to continue ahead of the visit to Ibrox, for none of the injured strikers will recover in time to play. But ending their pre-season campaign with a win should be considered a huge positive for Hearts as they now set about starting the SPL with purpose.

Hearts (4-2-3-1): Kello; Hamill, Webster (McGowan 46), Zaliukas, Grainger (Wallace 65); Mrowiec (Novikovas 46), Black; Stevenson (Jonsson 65), Taouil (Obua 84), Templeton; Sutton. Subs: MacDonald, Barr.

Antwerp (4-4-1-1): Defourny; Pollemans, Karel, Phibel, Peersman; Martin (Smeets 58), Lambot, Put (Pelgrims 72), Cherqui; Dosumbu (Peeters 79); Oris. Subs: Wauty, Van Dessel, Meyers.

Referee: Steven McLean.

Attendance: 4504.