Jim Jefferies adamant something must give as Hearts seek home comforts

Hearts are handed an opportunity to arrest their own run of win-less fixtures at home in the league when St Mirren come calling tomorrow, with the Paisley side having the opposite problem: they cannot win away. Something is likely to give tomorrow at Tynecastle, where Hearts have claimed only two of their 11 points this season.

Jefferies, rightly, is not overly concerned by the statistics. After all, Hearts' away form has been much better than average, and has seen them collect three victories from four league trips this season. The latest of these was last Saturday's 1-0 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie, when Marius Zaliukas returned to the side after his recent exile and Kevin Kyle bulleted home a spectacular winner with his head.

"Confidence is up, and the team looked solid and well balanced on Saturday," said Jefferies, who is waiting to see if he can add Ian Black to the squad for tomorrow's game as he recovers after breaking a bone in his hand.

Jefferies is keen to post a league win at Tynecastle but remains unfazed by the failure to have done so thus far, with only the performance against Motherwell, when they lost 2-0, having fallen far below par the standard expected by the manager. He is heartened by the reaction of the fans, who have remained supportive despite disappointments such as the late collapse against Rangers on their last home outing. This is perhaps in contrast to the frustration evident when Hibs played at Easter Road during their own long win-less run.

"In all these games we have played fairly well," said Jefferies. "Considering the number of injuries we have had the performances have been okay, it's the results that have been wrong. That is what we are trying to put right. Apart from the Motherwell game, when we had a few players out, we have been unlucky in many of the games. We just need to step it up in terms of results and improve a bit."

Jefferies feels the team needs to become a "little more clinical" in the last third of the pitch, although this ambition should be helped by Kyle's current form alongside a revitalised Calum Elliot."His (Elliot's] work rate is exceptional for the team, and it was again on Saturday even though he did not score," said Jefferies. "He can be pleased with his start to the season. A lot of players like playing with big Kevin, because he puts himself about. We have been emphasising the need to get the ball down, and get it out wide. That was shown in the goal we scored. It came from the area where we wanted it to come from. Unfortunately, against Rangers in the last game, he (Kyle] got on the end of another great cross and missed it," Jefferies added. "But you saw his worth on Saturday when he scored an unbelievable header." Being given the green light to call on the services again of Zaliukas is another bonus for Jefferies, with the Lithuanian defender having made an impressive return to the side last weekend. He had been sidelined due to a contract wrangle with owner Vladimir Romanov, one which has still to be resolved one way or the other. The defender has still to sign a new contract, as Romanov desires. But Jefferies yesterday said he was "not anticipating any problems, let it run its course."

In the meantime the manager is just grateful to be able to re-unite his favoured central defensive partnership, with Zaliukas teaming up again with Ismael Bouzid last Saturday.

"Sometimes in football you get combinations and partnerships between strikers and midfielders, and at centre half it is crucial as well," noted Jefferies. "There is no doubt that at the start of the season Zaliukas and Bouzid were our strongest pairing there. Darren Barr has played a lot of times at right back for his previous club and might eventually have a spell at centre half when he gets a bit more experience, but he had his best game for us on Saturday.

"It was a big difference to have him (Zaliukas] back," added Jefferies. "The clean sheet tells you that."