Source: Team_Talk
Jefferies motivated by cup tie
Jim Jefferies was in reflective mood as he prepared to take Hearts to his former club Falkirk in the Co-operative Insurance Cup on Tuesday. Jefferies will lock horns with Falkirk boss Steven Pressley - a player he signed for Hearts - while he took Hearts to the final of the competition in his first spell in charge, losing 4-3 to Rangers in an epic tussle where Paul Gascoigne was the difference.But while the competition, Pressley and the Bairns remind Jefferies of the past, the Hearts boss is looking to the future and is optimistic of progressing to the quarter-finals with victory at Falkirk Stadium."If we get through we're a couple of games away from the final again," said Jefferies ahead of the third round tie with the club he managed for five years."We've got enough motivation because clubs like this should be in there challenging when it comes round to the business end of it, semi-finals and finals, and that's what we aim to do."It will be an interesting game, but we should be going into it with confidence."Away from home, apart from Celtic, we've scored seven goals in two matches and we're looking forward to it."Hearts' confidence was boosted by a 3-1 Clydesdale Bank Premier League win at Inverness last Saturday, marred only by the bruised foot suffered by Ian Black which means the midfielder is doubtful on Tuesday.But Jefferies, whose second spell in charge of Hearts began with the Co-operative Insurance Cup semi-final loss to eventual beaten finalists St Mirren in February, will not be taking Irn-Bru First Division side Falkirk lightly."Our message to our players will be that they were in the Premier League not so long ago," he said.The Bairns have won four of their six league matches this term and progressed to the third round with a 1-0 win at Partick Thistle.Jefferies has heard little from former Scotland defender Pressley since he took his first managerial role.He signed Pressley on a free transfer in 1998, with the defender going on to make more than 300 appearances for the club."He did terrifically well for us," Jefferies said. "We've had some good times together and I've bumped into him a couple of times."I don't think he'll phone too many people - he's got his own way of doing things. The one thing is he's single-minded and you'll never change him. He's quite right to do it his way."He's now launching into a managerial career and after tomorrow night I hope he's successful at getting Falkirk back up."Hearts, fielding some players on the fringes of the first team, beat Elgin 4-0 in the second round at Tynecastle last month, but Jefferies will resist wholesale changes on Tuesday.He added: "We were very professional in the last round and we have to do the same when we go to Falkirk."No disrespect to Elgin, but Falkirk are a step up. The team will not be far away (from the full first team)."That may include Rudi Skacel, who returned to Hearts last week after a memorable season in 2005/06 which culminated in a Scottish Cup success.If Skacel is awarded his second debut, it is likely to come off the bench."I think he feels himself that he's still a week or so away from being up to speed," Jefferies added.Stephen Elliott is close to a return from a hamstring problem, but Dawid Kucharski (calf strain) and Andrew Driver (knee) remain absent along with Lee Wallace (knee) and Marius Zaliukas (knee and contract dispute).