Craig Gordon says Hearts want to be back on the European stage but must let domestic form supercharge that mission.
The Jambos are fresh off the back of a return to European football, with a Europa Conference League campaign bringing highs and lows to Tynecastle. Ultimately, Robbie Neilson's men were unable to qualify from their group, but faced tough competition against the likes of Fiorentina and Istanbul Basaksehir. It came after the Gorgie were dumped out of Europa League qualifying earlier this year.
And veteran keeper Gordon admits the club are in a 'reasonable' spot this season but have fallen away from their normally-coveted third spot in the Scottish Premiership. The likes of Aberdeen and Livingston have leapfrogged the Edinburgh side in recent months, but the 39-year-old has the strong belief that the motivation to gain more European experience will be enough for Hearts to recapture that spot.
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He told Sky Sports: "We want to get back there [European football]. It all starts with the game against Kilmarnock. We've got the Scottish Cup to look forward to in January so there's still a big part of the season to go. We've put ourselves in a reasonable position with a lot of games.
"We're still in with a shout of finishing third again which we want to do, to qualify for Europe and have the same opportunities this season."
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