Bobic fails to make Hearts flutter but Bednar back on track

The former Bolton Wanderers, Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund forward arrived in Edinburgh on Monday and was available as a free agent after leaving Hertha Berlin in the summer.

The Tynecastle club have now decided against signing the player. A Hearts spokesperson said: "Fredi has been training with the club for a couple of days. However, he will not be joining Hearts."

The Hearts manager, George Burley, has received some good news about the young forward Roman Bednar, however.

The 22-year-old is making excellent progress following knee surgery after being injured in the 1-0 win over Rangers last month. The Tynecastle manager is delighted with Bednar's progress, but concedes his return to fitness may not come in time for the Edinburgh derby which takes place at Hibernian on 29 October.

Burley said: "It's just over two weeks since the knee surgery, but we are very happy with his progression. We will see how he keeps going before making a decision. We said that it might be six weeks, but it's going better than we expected and so we must play it week by week."