 Darren Barr is not about to give up on getting back into the side after being dropped from the team's makeshift back four. Barr made a promising start to the season at right-back but was left out of the 18 player squad for the game against Motherwell on Saturday after having a difficult night at centre-half as Hearts lost 4-3 to his former club Falkirk in the Co-operative Insurance Cup. Jim Jefferies was without the suspended Craig Thomson, contract rebel Marius Zaliukas and injured Lee Wallace but still chose midfielders Adrian Mrowiec and Eggert Jonsson in defence ahead of Barr. However, the Hearts manager explained he did not want to put Barr under pressure to atone for his display at Falkirk and promised to get the Scotland cap back in his team soon. Barr appears to have taken the decision in the right manner and vowed to coke back stronger and win his place back for the visit of Rangers on Saturday. Barr said: "I'm a bit gutted but I didn't have the best game against Falkirk so it's understandable. If you are not doing it on the park, you don't play. The manager explained it to me as well and he was good about it, so I completely understand. I just need to take it on the chin and keep working hard. I came to Hearts to try and better my career and get better as a player. You need to take the knocks as well and get up. I'm busting a gut in training and I will just get my head down and get on with it." Jefferies again criticised his team's defending after the 2-0 defeat against Motherwell at home and admitted he saw Barr as part of his first-choice defence at right-back. The 25-year-old said. "I started there when we did have a settled back four. It was going well and we were doing okay. We are missing big players and things aren't the way we would like at the back but we need to get on with it. There is enough strength and depth there that we can go on and do okay." Barr feels they owe the fans a performance against Rangers, who went back to the summit of the SPL on Sunday with a 3-2 win at Aberdeen. He said: "They were two behind and showed great grit and determination to get the result they needed. "They deserve a lot of credit for that. But we have not been at our best at home so we need to pick it up and give something back to the fans." |