Football: You are always on my mind; Elvis has taught me all I know but I'll get by without him says Andy TENNENT'S SCOTTISH CUP QUARTER-FINAL HEARTS.

HEARTS defender Andy Webster insists he can cope in the absence of Steven Pressley tomorrow.

The Scotland defender admits Elvis played a vital role helping him to develop - but is adamant he is mature enough to look after himself now.

The onus will be on Webster to guide youngster Christophe Berra through the quarter-final clash against Livingston as Pressley is suspended.

And he hopes to pass on some of the advice the Hearts skipper has given him when he lines up alongside Berra.

He said: "Hopefully I am able to adapt so I don't have to rely on Elvis all the time. Don't get me wrong, Elvis is a big influence but I would like to think that I am well equipped to deal with it on my own.

"Initially it was there for everyone to see that he was a massive help and still is, you can always learn from him because he is a quality player. But Christophe has done well when he has come in so I don't think we have anything to worry about. He is young and is gaining first team experience which is vital for his progress.

"If I can help him so be it, hopefully he can learn some things from me."

Meanwhile, manager John Robertson admits he hopes former club Livingston can overcome the well-publicised off-field problems that have blighted their season - so long as any revival takes place after Sunday. Robbo spent four years at Almondvale as a player and coach and is saddened by their predicament.

Relegation looms with the the club six points adrift at the foot of the SPL.

However, Robertson insists guiding Hearts to the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup is all that concerns him.

He said: "I've got enough to be getting on with here. I know a lot of people at Livingston, I have great memories of the club and there are lots of fantastic people working for them.

"I hope everything gets sorted out, it's a great club to be involved with.

"They have a loyal band of people who work for them and hopefully that will all get sorted out.

"But I have to do what is best for Hearts and best for us would be to win on Sunday. It would be a tremendous honour to go on and win the cup."

But Richard Gough has told his Livi side to forget their woes and recreate the cup glories of last term.

The Almondvale outfit are odds-on to drop down from the SPL, having slipped six points behind second-bottom Dundee United last weekend.

But their troubles will be put on hold tomorrow.

The Lions head for Tynecastle as underdogs and with confidence at _ a low ebb but knowing they were only five minutes away from a win over John Robertson's side less than five weeks ago.

And Gough is hoping cup football will finally bring out the best in his team. He said: "It's a wee break from the league. The last time we played against Hearts we had a good game and did better than a 2-1 defeat suggests.

"This is away from home, so it will be a more difficult game, but I've been telling the players that it's a one-off and you only get one bite at the cherry.

"We'll go into the game as massive underdogs, there's no doubt about that. But you never know with cup ties, anything can happen on the day.

"We've seen what can happen in shocks elsewhere and we have to look on this as a great chance to get through to a semi-final.

"A few of the players were here last year when the club won the CIS Cup against Hibs and got through to the semi-final of the Scottish Cup - I'm sure they would love to get there again.

"Hearts getting beaten at Motherwell was a shock. I had watched them against Kilmarnock the game before and they had played very well and had been on good run since they had beaten us in the league.

"But the reports we got from their match against Motherwell were that they didn't play that well - which is encouraging.

"It's certainly better than them going into this game against us having just won again."

And Gough denies there is an air of despondency surrounding his players.

In fact, the ex-Rangers defender insists his biggest problem has been trying to find a place to train this week.

He said: "The players have been fine, there have been no problems. It's a different competition and it's another difficult game but we look forward to it.

"It's a chance for cup success and we're only two games away from the final. If we perform well on the day then we have got a wee chance and there's no reason why we can't pick up in the league after that. We trained in the early part of the week and then had a few days off. That was pre-planned - which was just as well with the weather.

"The snow in Livingston seems to have been worse than anywhere else so we moved to Glasgow for the day to do some work."

CAPTION(S):

HANDY ANDY: Webster is confident he'll do well tomorrow without Elvis; TIME OUT: Jambos McAllister, Pressley and Webster take a break from training programme to practise their posing yesterday; UP FOR THE CUP: Eric Deloumeaux, right, in action for Livingston

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Publication:	The Mirror (London, England)
Date:	Feb 26, 2005
Words:	904
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