Steven Naismith roars Hearts on to make history as boss determined to land Europa League prize over Conference fallback

Hearts have never made the group phase of the tournament in its current format but Naismith wants to end that now

Steven Naismith admitted he is all in and wants to help make history by leading Hearts into the Europa League group stages, writes Scott Burns in the Czech Republic.

The Jambos have never played in the Europa League proper but they could do that if they can get past Viktoria Plzen over the next two games. Hearts might have the fallback of dropping into the Europa Conference League if they lose but Naismith is aiming for the big prize. The Hearts manager said: “It would be a great achievement if we get in the Europa League. I know you've got the group stage no matter what, but my mentality when I was a player, and I think the squad have got it as well, is we want to be as high as we can.

“We want to perform in the best tournaments we can. We've got the chance to do that over this tie.”

He also claimed the cup defeat at Falkirk has been put to bed and it is all about one of their biggest games of the season. Naismith said: “We spoke about things on Sunday and then we focused on tomorrow night's game. And it's been really good. I think for players and staff, if we can't be getting up for games like tomorrow night, then we shouldn't really be at the club.”

Scotland’s coefficient has fallen off a cliff and Naismith believes has been a lack of experience. Hearts got to the group stages of the Conference League last season and he reckons the majority of his squad can lean on that. He claimed: “There's a million reasons why Scottish teams haven't performed that well in the European competitions. It's been tougher over the years with the co-efficiency. But a big part of that, I think, is experience. I think we've not had enough experience as clubs, understanding what it's like to go, the demand of it.

“Also how to manage a tie. I think what we can draw on from last season is a Rosenberg tie. I think there's similarities in terms of the set-up of the stadium here and the feel of it compared to that tie. We managed to navigate our way through that with a few setbacks in terms of losing the first leg, losing an early goal in the second leg. But we didn't panic.

“We stuck to what we believed would work. And it did. We're here a year later in a similar situation. We've got to draw upon that, have that bit more experience, and ultimately get through the tie, which I believe we can do.

"We'll need to defend better than we have done in the last two games. But we're a good team. We're coming up against a good team. So I think it'll be an entertaining game of football.”