Webster bolsters Hearts for 'Well clash

Hearts' new signing Andy Webster is hoping for an instant debut on Saturday for the visit of Motherwell after putting pen to paper on a five-year deal.

The 18-year-old defender was snapped up by Hearts' head coach Craig Levein after Tynecastle scouts had seen the player at Arbroath.

Webster turned down Dundee United to join Hearts in an £80,000 deal.

Levein said: "Andy is tall for a defender. In my opinion, for a centre-back to make it to the highest level they need to have certain attributes.

"They need height, which Andy has. He also has pace and can pass the ball. How well he progresses now is up to him and how he responds to our coaching.

"In my opinion, there are a lot of good players in the lower leagues of Scottish football and I could sign about half-a-dozen of them. But we needed a centre-half at Hearts, and that is why we went for Andy.

"He will be one of three centre-backs on our books next year but may also have a part to play this season too."

Hearts look certain to make the top-six cut when the Scottish Premier League splits and may also catch fourth-placed Kilmarnock for a possible place in Europe, which is dependent on a Celtic-Hibernian Cup final.

But Levein insists the new arrangements are a double-edged sword for managers.

He said: "I can see why the top six keeps things interesting for the public. But for managers it is an added pressure.

"Last season no one would have bothered with a sixth or seventh place finish; now it could lose someone their job.

"I have not talked about the top six or Europe. We are thinking more in terms of improvement and progression at the club. Players sub-consciously know anyway what is at stake without having extra pressure put on them.

Hearts have been boosted by the news that strikers Gary Wales and Gordon Durie are both back after injury.

Steve Fulton has resumed training but will not make the squad for the match.

Motherwell boss Billy Davies welcomes back Benito Kemble, Derek Adams and Derek Townsley from suspension for the Tynecastle trip.

Well are still hoping for a top-six finish but know they must win their next two games and hope Dunfermline and Dundee slip up.

Moroccan international midfielder Said Chiba and Nigerian central defender James Okoli are set make their second appearances after debuts in the 2-1 Fir Park defeat by Rangers.

Winger Stuart Elliott, who scored for Northern Ireland on Wednesday, will be in the starting line-up if he reports fit after the match.

Steven Hammell is expected to shake off the illness that ruled out a Scotland Under-21 debut last week, and Kevin Twaddle too has recovered from a bug. Paul Harvey is back in the squad following a back injury.

Midfielder Keith Lasley is one of the young guns drafted in following the exodus of six bigger names and is relishing the opportunity.

He said: "I probably got my chance of a first-team place earlier than expected thanks to the number of experienced players leaving. But my contract is up at the end of the season, so I am playing for my future.

"I am enjoying the experience and would love to stay here but I have got to prove to the gaffer that I can get fitter, better, stronger and add a bit more quality into my game.

"Steve Hammell has managed to hold on to his place and was called into the Scotland Under-21 squad last week. That's the consistency all the young lads like myself have got to aim for.

"Getting into the top six is not beyond us. But it is going to be like two cup finals for us against Hearts and then St Johnstone.

"We have got to take maximum points from both if we are to have any chance. We have got to go in with the right attitude, work hard and - I hope - take three points."