Csaba Laszlo, the Hearts manager, last night shrugged off fresh speculation surrounding captain Christophe Berra but admits he is "proud" to see the player linked with big-money moves to England.(With video)
Csaba Laszlo, the Hearts manager, last night shrugged off fresh speculation surrounding captain Christophe Berra but admits he is "proud" to see the player linked with big-money moves to England.
Fulham are the latest club to be reported to be keen on Berra and are believed to lining up a £2.5m bid for the Scotland centre-half.
Laszlo looks certain to lose the 23-year-old this month, with a number of his other key players such as Marius Zaliukas, Laryea Kingston and Andrew Driver also attracting interest.
Ahead of tonight's rearranged trip to Motherwell, he said: "I don't have any information from the board that Christophe must go to which club, Fulham?
"The decision is not in my hands but I'm always happy if a player can move to the bigger stage. It shows the good work put in by Christophe and also the team. It also makes the club interesting to other players.
"But we have the game against Motherwell and then the cup game against Hibs and I don't think anything will happen in the near future."
Meanwhile, Calum Elliot's hopes of making an immediate impact on his return to the club have been hit with the news he has incurred a two-match suspension during his loan spell at Livingston.
The 21-year-old reached the 18-point disciplinary barrier when he was cautioned for a sixth time this season in Livingston's 1-0 defeat at Dunfermline last Tuesday.
Despite picking up the bookings at a First Division club, the cautions stay on a player's first-team record back in the SPL. He will miss the trip to Kilmarnock on January 17 and the home meeting with Inverness on January 24 but is in the squad for tonight.
"I did all right at Livi, so I'm pleased to be back at Hearts and involved with the squad," said Elliot. "I had a meeting with the manager and he was happy for me to come back.
"I've just had to accept the boos from Hearts fansand move on. I try to ignore it. Hopefully the fans will get behind me if I prove I can do the business."
- Probable teams
Motherwell (4-1-3-2) G Smith; Quinn, Craigan, Reynolds, Hammell; Klimpl; Hughes, Lasley, O'Brien; Clarkson, Porter. Subs: Fitzpatrick, Sutton, McGarry, Malcolm, Murphy, Saunders, Krysiak Hearts (4-4-1-1) Balogh; Neilson, Zaliukas, Berra, Wallace; Kingston, Stewart, Palazuelos, Driver; Karipidis; Nade. Subs: Cesnauskis, Thomson, Mole, Glen, Elliot, Jonsson, Kello
