Neil Critchley says his players are feeling refreshed after a busy spell of fixtures but will need to be good in every aspect of their game if they wish to take all three points against FC Heidenheim on Thursday night.
The Jambos welcome the German outfit to Tynecastle Park on matchday three of the UEFA Conference League with both sides sitting on a maximum 6 points from their opening two matches.
The men in maroon come into the match on the back of a precious three points on the road against St Johnstone and the head coach admits everyone is looking forward to the challenge.
Speaking to the media at the pre-match press conference, Critchley said:
“We’ve had a couple of days after the St Johnstone game. That was a busy period of games for us. We’re refreshed. We’re clear on what we need to do and we’re looking forward to a good game. A big challenge, but being at home, it’s one we’re really looking forward to.
“When you’re meeting certain teams from certain parts of Europe or the footballing world, it does create that little bit more anticipation in the type of game you might be playing.
“We know we’re in for a big test, but if we can play a game that we want to play, then we know it’ll be a really good game and we’ll be a really good match for them.
“If you want to win games of football at this level. You have to be good with the ball and you have to be good without the ball, it’s as simple as that. You have to be good in all aspects of the game or you get beat.”
On the Jambos positive start to the league phase of the competition, Critchley added:
“We’ve made a good start, so we have to capitalise on that. We’re at home so it’s an opportunity for us to take another step forward and try and get three points. If we do that, we’ll be in a really positive position. I’m not looking any further ahead than Heidenheim because we know the difficult task we’ve got in front of us.
“We want this to be a hostile, intimidating atmosphere where nobody wants to come and play. Tynie will be on fire on Thursday night, and I hope it’s not a nice experience for our opponents.”
You can watch Neil’s press conference in full on Hearts TV
