Hearts- 24h On

His halftime talk and his tactical alteration, giving Clarkson a deeper role, seemed to install a determination and belief which was missing for much of the opening forty five minutes. Santa's little helpers took to their task with an enthusiasm which knocked the home team off their stride. The resulting win and a bit of fairy dust elsewhere leave us clear in third position with a three point advantage over United and Hibs.

The next two Saturdays see Aberdeen then Falkirk at Fir Park and there is every reason to be optimistic about our prospects. We have already beaten the Dons at Pittodrie (remember that screamer from Quinn?) and the team will be itching to repay Falkirk for the careless loss of three points when we conceded a silly goal at Westfield.

Aberdeen have their crunch Uefa Cup game in the week following their visit to Motherwell. They have not followed the example of Rangers by asking for a postponement. The SPL's willingness to rearrange a league fixture head of a European game is understandable but short sighted.

Were Aberdeen to make such a request then Motherwell should oppose the move. The potential for fixture chaos made possible by allowing the domestic calendar to be altered at short notice is not acceptable. Fans are already at the mercy of TV scheduling and the thought of more meddling is not one that supporters would welcome.

David Irons' comments about Gretna's willingness to help improve the standing of Scottish football and agreeing to move their game against Rangers is misplaced. He is charged with the difficult task of keeping them in the top division and if he believed that some advantage was to be gained by forcing Rangers to play ahead of their champions' league tie then he should have taken it.

The SPL have just created a rod for their own back.