Neil Critchley has challenged Hearts to complete a Scottish double over Bundesliga opposition when they host Heidenheim in the Conference League on Thursday.
William Hill Premiership leaders Celtic defeated RB Leipzig – second in the German top flight – 3-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Hearts, who have won three of their previous four Tynecastle meetings with German sides, are aiming to maintain their perfect Conference League start against Heidenheim, currently 12th in the Bundesliga.
“I watched that game last night and I thought Celtic were very good,” said Critchley.
“A similar result would be nice. Celtic were fully deserving of their victory, so hopefully we can be the next Scottish team to win against German opposition.”
Hearts have faced Czech, Belarusian and Cypriot sides in their European campaign so far but Critchley admits the prospect of meeting a German team for the first time in 20 years – since they lost 1-0 to Schalke at Murrayfield in November 2004 – adds an extra dose of excitement.
“Yeah, I think so,” he said.
“I think when you’re meeting certain teams from certain parts of Europe and the footballing world, German teams, Bundesliga teams, it does create that little bit more anticipation in the type of game you might be playing and seeing how good they are.
“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.”
Heidenheim are in Europe for the first time after finishing eighth last term in what was their first-ever season in the Bundesliga following their remarkable rise from the German seventh tier.
Their manager Frank Schmidt has been in charge since 2007, when they were in the fifth tier.
“Something that I think all coaches and managers would want is time,” said Critchley, who was sacked after just 12 games at QPR last year.
“The head coach at Heidenheim has obviously had that, and rightly so, because if you look at their journey, it’s quite remarkable.
“He’s had time, but he’s been successful. What a great season they had last season as well, first year in the Bundesliga. It’s been incredible.”
Hearts have won both of their Conference League matches so far and appear well on course to at least reach the knockout round play-offs in February.
Critchley knows his team are close to securing European football beyond Christmas for the first time since they lost to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals in 1989, but he is leaving the dreaming to supporters.
“I’m not sure how far (we can go), but we’ve made a good start and we have to capitalise on that,” he said.
“We’re trying to take another step forward and get three points. If we do that, we’ll be in a really positive position.
“I’m not looking any further than Heidenheim because we know the difficult task we’ve got in front of us.
“It would be foolish to start looking ahead and planning ahead. Hopefully, the supporters are doing that for some of their away trips, but for us, we’re solely focused on Thursday night and the job we’ve got in front of us.
“It’s exciting for the club, it’s exciting for the supporters, but it’s only two games, we’ve got four to go, and things can change very quickly.”
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