'It's in our hands': Neil Critchley urges Hearts to secure progress in Europe

Neil Critchley has challenged his beleaguered Hearts side to breathe new life into their campaign by defeating Moldovan side Petrocub on Thursday to secure European football beyond Christmas for the first time in 35 years.

The Edinburgh side were widely condemned by their own supporters after slipping back to the foot of the William Hill Premiership with a 1-0 defeat away to a Kilmarnock side who played the majority of the match with 10 men on Sunday.

But head coach Critchley believes qualification for the knockout phase play-off round of the Conference League would serve as a much-needed shot in the arm for his players in their quest to improve their grim predicament in the league.

A victory over Petrocub would ensure Hearts finish in the top 24 of the 36-team league and continue their European adventure until February at least, while a draw may be enough depending on other results.

“Obviously, we have the opportunity to progress in a European competition,” said Critchley. “This club has been in Europe, but we want to get into the latter stages and progress. We have an opportunity to do that. It’s in our hands.

“We were going through all the possible permutations yesterday and we gave up after about five minutes and just thought, let’s just concentrate on doing our best to win the game.

“And if we do that, then we can put that to rest for a few months and look to then improve our domestic form, because we’ve got a really important period coming up with lots of games in a short period of time.

“I said to the players when we got back together after the game against Kilmarnock at the weekend, ‘how often do you get opportunities like this in your career?’. It goes by in a flash and you can’t miss these opportunities.

“It’s a great chance for us at home to get the points on the board that we need to progress. And then it gives us all something to look forward to. I think it will give everyone a lift, give us a boost going into what is an important period of games for us in the league.”

Petrocub are second bottom of the Conference League table and one of only two teams to have officially been eliminated already after taking just one point from their opening five matches.

“You can obviously look at their position and look at the points that they’ve got and underestimate them,” said Critchley.

“We certainly won’t be doing that. There’s no gimmes in European football. They’re there for a reason. And if you look at their recent results, they’ve been very tight games.

“They’re tough to play against. They’re not easy to break down. They’re well coached and they like to have the ball. They like to play as well.

“We’re not underestimating them at all. We have to make sure our cause is greater than theirs.”

Hearts welcome back captain Lawrence Shankland after suspension and Beni Baningime has a chance of being involved after injury, but Adam Forrester is suspended and Frankie Kent, Stephen Kingsley, Gerald Taylor and Calem Nieuwenhof are all out.

Critchley, who took charge in October, is confident his players are equipped to turn things round after declaring himself “shocked and stunned” by Sunday’s display at Kille.

“If we keep producing the level of performance we had prior to Sunday, then I’m more than confident we’ll get points on the board and we’ll move forward,” he said. “But that was a red flag on Sunday.

“And if we produce more performance similar to that level, then the inevitable will happen. But that was one game. Even though Sunday was very painful, you have to put it into perspective.”