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Gareth Fullerton & Ross Pilcher

Hearts boss Robbie Neilson offers confident verdict after Linfield/FC Zurich draw

Robbie Neilson says Hearts will fancy their chances against either Linfield or FC Zurich in the Europa League play-off round.

It was confirmed on Tuesday that the Scottish Premiership side will meet either the Northern Ireland or Swiss champions in the next stage of the competition.

Linfield take on Zurich over two legs, with the first tie this Thursday night at Windsor Park.

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Hearts were in the hat for Tuesday's draw and now know who stands between them and a place in the group stage. Defeat will still see them drop into the group stage of the Europa Conference League, guaranteeing European football until at least November, but that will be a consolation prize compared to the benefits that will come from beating either.

The Tynecastle team face a wait to find out which of their opponents will be heading to Gorgie. The third qualifying round first legs take place this Thursday, with the return fixtures scheduled for Thursday, August 11.

The Europa play-off games will then be played on Thursday, August 18 and 25 respectively. After being drawn second, Hearts will travel to either Belfast or Zurich before welcoming their opponents to Tynecastle. They face champions Celtic at Parkhead in between both legs.

Neilson is happy with the draw, but stressed that the focus must remain on this Sunday's Edinburgh derby against Hibs at Easter Road. He said: "It's a good draw for us. One or the other would be great.

"First and foremost we've got a derby and it's great that we have that [European game] to look forward to in a couple of weeks’ time but we've got to take care of the derby first.

"Until the World Cup break, we're going to be playing a lot of football, hence we prepared in pre-season by playing a Wednesday and a Saturday back to back. So the boys are ready for it.

"It's where we want the club to be. It's a great opportunity for us to get into the Europa League against one of these teams.

"We fancy ourselves to win that game and if we can do that, then it will be brilliant for the club."

Neilson of course struck a dramatic late winner the last time Hearts were in Switzerland, shocking FC Basel on their own patch back in 2004. "That was a long time ago that!" He told Hearts TV. "But hopefully we can emulate that. It would be fantatsic."

Hearts would be another massive tie for Linfield, especially with the Jambos' squad including former Irish League pair Liam Boyce and Michael Smith. But first David Healy's side faces a huge showdown with Swiss champions FC Zurich.

If they lose that tie, Linfield will then play a Europa Conference League play-off against either RFS of Latvia or Hibernians from Malta.

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