Jim Jefferies keen to get through window with squad still intact

SUCCESS comes at a price for football clubs, as Jim Jefferies is painfully aware. The last time the manager was in charge of Hearts, they had no sooner won the Scottish Cup than the squad began to break up as offers came in for their star players.

Now, with his team the talk of the country after their weekend win over Rangers, Jefferies hopes the same thing does not happen again. His mind may be focused at present on tonight's match at Celtic Park, but he knows that unwelcome distractions could arise in the next few days.

Centre-half Ismael Bouzid, for one, has already attracted interest from Leicester City, among other English clubs. Although the Algerian appears likely to see out his current contract by staying until the summer, sizeable bids for his team-mates before the transfer window closes on Monday could tempt Hearts into selling. Jefferies knows that every player has his price, every club its need to make ends meet. It has been a quiet window at Tynecastle so far, however, and he hopes it stays that way.

"I know the last week is a busy week, but you want to see the last couple of days," he said yesterday. "That's still a few days away. We'll find out if anything comes or goes in that period.

"Of course (other clubs are interested]. That's one of the problems I had in '98. We always said, if we had been able to keep that team together, we might have gone on and had more success. If we get an offer for somebody that we can't turn down, then we'll have to make that decision. That will be for the owner and me to discuss. I'm not nervous about it - it's just part and parcel of football. I hope it doesn't happen, but until Monday comes I'll just try and not answer the phone too often."

Despite that jocular protest, it is a problem the manager would rather have than not. If no-one were interested in his players, after all, it would mean they were failing to impress. Now, it is not only scouts from around the UK who are taking an interest in Hearts, but supporters of other clubs who are glad that a challenge is being made to the Old Firm. "Everybody apart from the Hibs supporters," Jefferies said, before quickly qualifying that. "In fact, I met a couple of Hibs supporters who congratulated us and said it's great to see another team (up there]."

Saturday's win took Hearts to within two points of Rangers, but Celtic are currently seven points clear of Jefferies' team, albeit having played a game more. Given that gap, the manager is still wisely insisting that his club are at present doing nothing more than trying to sustain a challenge to the Old Firm.

"We're on the coat-tails," was how he put it. "We've never said we're going to go and win the title.What we're trying to do is put in a bit of a challenge and have a good season, and right now we're on track to do that.

"We'll see by the time next week comes round and we play Rangers after that just where we are. If we're still in there close and challenging, there's going to be a lot of hard games ahead, but it's going to give us a lot of confidence going into those games."

It is now more than quarter of a century since the Old Firm's stranglehold on the title was last loosened, and Jefferies is under no illusions about how difficult it has come for any club to get the better of the big two over the course of the season. "It's very difficult when you see the size of the two clubs and their resources. Whoever does it, whether it's Hearts this year or another team in a different year, it's going to be a fantastic achievement. It's something you can dream about, but doing it is very difficult.

"We're on a good run, we'll keep on their tails, then when it's down to the pressure side of it we'll see if we can handle that. Plus a big part of it is injuries. We've got a few injuries at the moment and are relying on boys coming in to keep things going."

Kevin Kyle, the most conspicuous absentee over the past couple of weeks, is a doubt for this evening's match, and his fellow-striker Calum Elliot is still out. Rudi Skacel, however, is available after suffering no reaction against Rangers to a calf injury, and winger Suso Santana is likely to be on the bench again. Having beaten Rangers without Kyle, and defeated Kilmarnock in the absence of both Kyle and Skacel, Hearts have so far coped ably with their injury problems. But no matter if the whole team stays fit for the rest of the season, Jefferies expects each game to get harder from now on.

"We learned on Saturday how tough it's going to be to keep it going," he said of an unbeaten league run which now consists of ten wins and a draw. "So they've had a nice warning that every game is going to be hard now. We got a taste of it on Saturday and that's something I hope the players learn from. It was a good result for Scottish football. It was a big result at Kilmarnock - the first time in this run we came back from a goal down and won. We deservedly won that game, and that shows you we've got the bottle to come through that when they weren't playing at their best. They've answered the question so far. Whether they can do it the more the pressure mounts up we'll soon find out."

Honours are even between Celtic and Hearts so far this season with a home win apiece. The last match at Tynecastle was notable for Neil Lennon's being sent to the stand, but Jefferies defended his managerial colleague.

"It's very difficult in the heat of the moment. He shouldn't be curbing his enthusiasm - that's part of his personality.

"There was no animosity between the dugouts in the last game - it was the referee and the fourth official. We've all been there, done that and got the T-shirt.We have to learn from it, keep the trap shut and get on with it."