JJ insists ten weeks not enough to get Hearts sorted

HEARTS boss Jim Jefferies admitted today that he would have loved to have had more time at Tynecastle to turn the club's fortunes around this season.

Jefferies and assistant Billy Brown were only installed as the Hearts management team just over two months ago. During that spell, they have helped Hearts lift themselves up the SPL table and into contention not only for a place in the top six but also an outside chance of making it into the Europa League qualifiers. Jefferies said: "We've only been here for ten weeks or so and we possibly would have been in a different position if we'd had more time to work with the boys.

"It's been made doubly difficult by our injury list and that's a situation that has never relented. That's possibly one of the main reasons we are having to fight for the top six now.

"We should be up there with Dundee United and Hibs, putting in a challenge to the Old Firm. Some teams managed to do that for quite a while this season.

"I want us to be one of the clubs challenging the Old Firm, we know that, and we have to look at the reasons why that hasn't happened this year.

"We've looked after all of our players well enough in terms of the contracts they have, so we should still be up there.

"We need to address these issues and look at resolving so that next year we are up there fighting."

One area of the park that Jefferies has no complaints about is the goalkeeping position, with Jamie MacDonald coming in to replace the injured Marian Kello and Janos Balogh in recent weeks.

He believes he has three top-quality keepers to choose from and said: "Jamie is getting a chance right now because of the injury situation.

"When I first came to the club, Marian Kello was playing and he was excellent, then he picked up an injury to his hand and we brought Janos in.

"He was first-choice keeper before Marian and he didn't let us down when we put him back in but then he picked up an injury

"Jamie has grabbed his chance well and made some hugely difficult saves against St Mirren last weekend. He has done well for us, showed that he is a capable goalkeeper and that is one area of the team we are quite happy with now."