Steven Naismith is convinced Hearts have the attacking threats to see off Rosenborg and move one step closer to the Europa Conference League group stages.
The Tynecastle outfit were guaranteed European football until Christmas this time last year after finishing third in the Premiership.
Having slipped to fourth in the top-flight last season, Naismith acknowledges they have a tougher task on their hands to emulate the success that saw them face Basaksehir, Riga and eventual finalists Fiorentina in the groups 12 months ago.
But, following an opening-day league victory over St Johnstone at the weekend, he insists the Jambos have travelled to Norway full of confidence they can prevail in the third qualifying round and set up a play-off with either Hadjuk Split or PAOK.
The former Rangers, Everton and Scotland striker is adamant the Gorgie side should believe they have striking dangers to see off Rosenborg, who needed extra-time to beat Crusaders of Northern Ireland in the previous round.
The technical director, who saw out last season as interim head coach before Frankie McAvoy was handed the reins in the summer, said: “The whole set-up is more difficult [in Europe] because we finished fourth.
“They’re two tough games. The first one against Rosenborg is a tough game but we’ll believe that we can go through, like we do in every game.
“For all these games, especially the European ones, and a big thing I’ve said since I came in, is every game we play in we must have a threat. That's something I firmly believe in.
“We need to go into all of these games having a threat. We’ll have to defend well, we’ll need to defend well to have a chance of going through.
“But we need to cause teams problems. I believe we can do that in this round and, if we get through this round, we can definitely do it in the next round as well.
“It’s exciting. I think it would be a good achievement if we can get there.
“We need to focus on Rosenborg, get through that.
“The schedule is busy and you need to deal with the league as well as the European games so we'll need to use the squad to the maximum.”
Hearts endured a trying pre-season build-up, winning just one of the six warm-up games they played.
But Naismith was thrilled to taste victory when it mattered most as goals from Yutaro Oda and the ever-dependable Lawrence Shankland earned them a 2-0 victory away to St Johnstone on Saturday.
And he is optimistic the Jambos can cope with the looming pressures of European competition and domestic challenges in the Premiership and the Viaplay Cup.
He added: “It’s been an intense last month or so, just with pre-season. It’s been a period where there’s so much happening for the individuals, and there’s so much [information] you’ve got to get into everybody as a collective group.
“And then, as [new] players arrive, there’s that change of the dynamic as well.
“So, it’s been really intense, and then you get to the end point and you’re just looking for that first game of the season.
“That came along and I thought we did well for the first game of the season.
“It’s been difficult there in the past and after the first half an hour of the game we quickened things up and we believed in what we work on every day.
“It wasn’t what I like to call ‘safe-ness’ and everybody taking the safe option, we started to find good positions, play with a better speed and it showed when we do that we’re a good team.
“We’re delighted to get the first win of the season, away from home and a clean sheet. So there’s loads of positives to take from that first game.
“But these next two weeks are pretty busy with the European fixture as well.”
