Jim Jefferies rules out miracles as European door shuts

HEARTS manager Jim Jefferies conceded defeat in his team's late bid for a European place after a 0-0 draw with Dundee United last night, and acknowledged that an inability to score goals over the season has been their biggest problem.

Their home point last night, combined with the draw between Motherwell and Hibernian, means that Hearts cannot catch the former team on points. While the Tynecastle side could end up on the same total as Hibs, John Hughes' team have a goal difference which is better by 11, and even in his most optimistic moods Jefferies knows that disadvantage cannot be erased in a single afternoon.

"Winning 11-0 against Celtic?" he asked. "Miracles? I'll get the Provost's job if I pull that off. I think the damage was done when we played Motherwell here," he continued, referring to the recent 2-0 defeat. "If we'd applied ourselves like we did at Easter Road and like we did tonight, we might have got a different result. You can see goalscoring is worth an extra point. Fair do's to Hibs – they've scored a lot of goals this year and you've got to give them credit for scoring six tonight."

"I was kind of hoping Motherwell would have pulled it off, but it's not to be."

United manager Peter Houston felt his team had shaded the game, and argued they should not have had a goal chalked off in the first half. "It was a hard-earned draw and I felt we had the better chances. Marius Zaliukas was holding Andy Webster, in my opinion, when Andy scored in the first half.

Andy Webster did not reappear for the second half, but Houston explained that had been a precautionary measure. The centre-half has had trouble with a nerve in his back.