Scotland defender Steven Pressley has been stripped of the captaincy at Hearts, BBC Sport understands.

The 33-year-old will not feature against Falkirk on Monday and Christophe Berra will lead the team.

 

Last month, Pressley spoke publicly of "significant unrest" at the club, following the departure of head coach Valdas Ivanauskas on sick leave.

 

Pressley has been at Tynecastle since 1998 and signed a two-year contract extension in March 2005.

 

Hearts officials would not be drawn on the matter and were refusing to speak to the media prior to kick off in Falkirk.

 

The Edinburgh side have gone off the boil in recent weeks and have not won a game since they hammered Dundee United 4-0 on 1 October.

 

Fellow Scotland international Paul Hartley, who flanked Pressley when he read a statement outlining the players' unrest, has been dropped to the bench for the Falkirk match.

 

Interim coach Eduard Malofeev continues to oversee the team and will do so for the match against Rangers on Sunday.

 

But BBC Sport understands Eugenijus Riabovas will take over the manager's role after that game.

 

Riabovas has recently steered FBK Kaunas to the Lithuanian title and his arrival will cast further uncertainty over the future of Ivanauskas, who is recovering from health problems.

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In the match Falkirk held hearts to a 1-1 draw.

 

i can see a lot of departures in January