Robbie Neilson fancies Hearts' chances after being drawn against either Linfield or Zurich in the Europa League playoff round.
The Jambos were in the hat for this afternoon'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 9 and 11. Once those are out of the way, Neilson's side can start preparing for their massive nights 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."
The draw for the group stage will take place the day after the second leg matches have been played. Should they fail to progress, then the group stage draw for the Europa Conference League will take place the same day.
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