Jefferies (l) enjoys a pre-match joke with Killie boss Jimmy Calderwood

Hearts manager Jim Jefferies was relieved after his side had beaten Kilmarnock 1-0 to secure top-six Scottish Premier League football.

"That's the most important thing," said Jefferies of ensuring that his team will finish in the league's top half.

"We ground out a result today. We have given the fans another derby to look forward to. We are all delighted."

And he added: "This is great. I can go in to some tough games, assess people and maybe make one or two changes."

Hearts had the better chances in the hard-fought win over struggling Kilmarnock, the team Jefferies left in January.

Suso Santana's low diagonal strike won it for the home side in front of majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov, a spectator in the main stand.

However, the Jambos had keeper Jamie MacDonald to thank for keeping them ahead after he showed great agility to deny Manuel Pascali's header.

"I knew it was going to be difficult. Scoring first was the important thing," said Jefferies.

"In terms of workrate and effort and putting themselves about, I have no complaints about that. That's what got us the result.

"They had chances, mostly with us switching off a bit, but we had chances at the other end when we should have finished them off."

Hearts are now six points clear of seventh-placed St Johnstone, who play at Aberdeen tomorrow but, now that they are in the top six, Jefferies is eyeing the teams above him.

"The bonus is that we are a little bit closer to the teams above us," he said.

"We are the hunter now. That's always the better position. The teams above us will have to look over their shoulders.

"Hearts have got a bit of a momentum going at the moment. They are starting to pick up their game and are enjoying a bit of freedom to go and play."

Looking to the longer term, the Tynecastle manager said of Romanov: "It was great to see him.

"We'll try to work closely with him to help the club make inroads at the top half of the table, and at the same time bring a lot of good young players into the club and through the club, as well as having that wee bit of experience."

One blot on Hearts' day in the sun was another injury to winger Andrew Driver, who hobbled from the field in the first half to be replaced by David Templeton.

"His problem has been tendinitis in his knee, it's not that," explained Jefferies.

"He pulled up with a thigh strain so hopefully it's not a tear. If it is, it will probably keep him out for a while."

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