Cathro warns Walker won’t play unless he ups work-rate

IAN CATHRO last night warned Rangers target Jamie Walker he won’t be selected to play for a troubled Hearts team unless his approach to work improves.

Walker was dropped for the Betfred Cup tie against Dunfermline yesterday as Hearts crashed out of the competition. They lost a penalty shoot-out 3-1 following a 2-2 draw.

It’s understood Cathro informed the winger of his decision on Friday, citing a belief that a drop-off in attitude was affecting his performance amid the transfer interest from Rangers, who yesterday allowed another wide man to leave as Michael O’Halloran joined St Johnstone on a six-month loan deal.

After Cathro was the subject of fierce fan criticism at Tynecastle, he explained: ‘The situation with Jamie is that he’s a young talented player who this club will continue to support.

‘He’s been dealing with a remarkable degree of speculation and attention. Initially, he dealt with it well. However, he has struggled to maintain his performance and focus levels.

‘He has to understand that there are levels which have to be matched on a daily basis. If you can’t do that, you won’t have a place in the squad or the team.

‘Is it a calculated act on his part after the speculation? I don’t want to comment on that — that’s games for other people to play. I

can only work with what the players give me.’

What the players offered Cathro in League Cup action has been nothing like enough to lift pressure from his young shoulders.

Defeat to Peterhead and the penalty-kick loss to Allan Johnston’s side yesterday left them third in Group B as the tournament moves on to the last 16 without them.

Home fans targeted Cathro with their fury, to which the head coach responded: ‘As I stand here now, I feel that I don’t have a right to give them a message. I just need to be professional and to improve things on the pitch. Then they can react to what’s on the pitch. I can understand why the fans are annoyed, of course. It was unacceptable.

‘It’s difficult for the players to come to a stadium where the fans are expressing displeasure. But we need to be a team which isn’t warped by that.

‘Believe me, I’ve been in angrier stadiums before. So if players want to go and have big careers, with all due respect, they’ll play with more stress than they had out there.’

Christophe Berra admitted ‘a few words’ were said in the dressing room following the latest calamity to befall the Cathro reign.

The experienced defender returned from Ipswich to skipper the side and was ‘bitterly disappointed’ to be out of the first competition of the season before the league even begins.

‘We need to raise things, do things better, make demands of each other,’ he said. ‘I’ve come here to win trophies and Hearts should be getting to the latter stages of cups.

‘Obviously, there is still a lot of frustration from last season but it’s up to the players to prove them wrong. It affects some players more than others. I can get on with it.

‘I can assure you we are working hard in training. We need more from some players.’

While Hearts travel to the champions next Saturday, Dunfermline have a Championship opener against Livingston then a Betfred Cup last-16 tie to look forward to.

They will so without Nicky Clark who will miss the next five weeks after an ankle op.

However, 17-year-old Callum Smith impressed on his first start for the club alongside scorer Declan McManus.

‘Callum was incredible,’ said boss Johnston. ‘He’ll only get better. If he keeps improving, a lot of teams will be looking at him.’