New boss Jim Jefferies last night admitted he would like to strengthen the Hearts squad ahead of the end of the transfer window tomorrow night - but insisted youth will be a key part of the future.

The new manager watched his charges battle hard against St Johnstone, finishing the match strongly, but it was not enough to prevent them going down to a narrow defeat.

Far from despondent, Jim knows there's real quality in the academy starlets at his disposal, although he would like just a little bit of experience to guide them.

Understanding that the club's approach is very much about bringing through young players, Jim sent out a strong message that this will be the future for all in maroon.

"I certainly think we need another striker, because we can't play the young boys all the time but they are going to be good players," he said.

"We can feed them in gradually, but it would be nice to have a natural goal scorer."

Jim revealed he thinks its unlikely that Kilmarnock striker Kevin Kyle is a realistic signing target.

"People will mention the fact that Kevin Kyle is out of contract and I took him to Kilmarnock and get on great with him," the new boss acknowledged before adding, "he is committed to Kilmarnock until then end of the season so that would be a long way away."

Confirming the story broken exclusively on heartsfc.co.uk at 1.45pm on Saturday, Jim told journalists that he's keen to bring Billy Brown and Gary Locke on to his coaching staff, but that the matter had still to be formalised.

"They know that I want to bring Billy and Gary in and they have been very positive about helping me to do that and we will try and sort it out early in the week," he said..

"It shows great commitment from him [Billy] and Gary that they have come up here today and did without talking about it. That's how keen they are to get started at Hearts."

On the subject to Jose Goncalves' omission from the Matchday squad, Jim confirmed that he would not be available for selection so long as is future is up in air, with the possibility that the Portuguese U21 international might leave Hearts before Monday.

"Jose thinks he might be on the move before the transfer window closes," the gaffer explained.

"If the window closes and he is still at the club, then he will come back into contention, possibly for Tuesday."

On Hearts.TV today - Catch post-match reaction from Jim and Andrew Driver plus watch all the action from McDiarmid Park