Hearts defender Christos Karipidis has backed caretaker manager Stevie Frail to be retained on a permanent basis. Frail was named as interim boss on New Year's Day, with Gorgie officials vowing owner Vladimir Romanov was aiming to appoint someone with experience of the British game.

Almost five months on, Frail remains in place for what could be the final time against Gretna in Hearts' last game of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League season tomorrow.

Frail helped lift the team from second bottom to a position where they only narrowly missed out on the top-six and Karipidis has joined the growing support for the former full-back to be handed the reins on a long-term basis.

He said: "It is difficult to talk about 'Shaggy' staying because I don't know how he would feel if another manager came.

"If you are asking me, I want him to stay here because he has given a lot of years to Hearts, he knows everything, he has worked with young players but it is up to him.

"It is up to (Romanov) but I am happy with Shaggy. I don't have a problem with him, I enjoy the training, I'm happy and I don't think any of the players have a problem with him.

"He has tried to keep everybody happy, training is enjoyable and everybody knows he loves this team and works hard for it.

"We have had some good results, but not good enough to get into the top six."

Hearts dropped to eighth place with Saturday's 2-0 defeat at home to Kilmarnock but could leapfrog Falkirk back into seventh again with a victory over financially-stricken Gretna.

The match could prove to be the Raydale Park outfit's last if a buyer is not found ahead of Saturday's deadline imposed by the club's administrators.

However, Karipidis is desperate to finish a poor season on a high and look forward to better times next term.

He added: "We want to finish with a win. I know that Gretna have a lot of problems but we hope to win the last game to finish the season well.

"This season has been very hard for everybody, for the players, the manager, the fans.

"We need to try to change something next season because Hearts is a big club in Scotland and we have to do something to change things."

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