Stephen Kingsley: Hearts more comfortable in Europe due to experience

Stephen Kingsley believes Hearts are now far more comfortable in the European arena after another encouraging Conference League outing against Heidenheim on Thursday.

The Edinburgh outfit produced a spirited display at home to the Bundesliga side on Thursday and felt they deserved better than a 2-0 defeat, with the Germans having to withstand heavy first-half pressure before getting themselves ahead just before the hour.

Hearts – with two wins from their three matches so far – are proving far more competitive in the Conference League than two years ago when they were easily beaten by Istanbul Basaksehir and Fiorentina.

Having played 17 European matches over the last three seasons, Kingsley feels they are now more accustomed to the demands of continental competition.

“I think we’re just more experienced in it,” said the 30-year-old defender. “I think for everyone against Fiorentina and Istanbul and teams like that, it was very new to us all. It was very new to me.

“I consider myself an experienced player, but it was the first time that I’d been in these European nights. Very exciting but obviously we didn’t do ourselves justice in a few of them. We’ve had some great memories as well.

“Looking back at a couple of the games last season, the RFS games and Rosenborg, we’ve had some really high moments, but also some low moments that we’ve learned from.

“I think you can see that real experience we’ve got now. Performance-wise against Heidenheim, we were very good at times. Obviously Omonia was great and we dug in against Minsk and we got the result there.

“Experience is massive, I think, in Europe. I think it stands us in good stead for going ahead.”

Despite Thursday’s defeat by Heidenheim, Hearts remain in the top half of the Conference League and on course to be involved after Christmas. Kingsley felt there were plenty of positives to take going into the closing three games against Cercle Brugge, Copenhagen and Petrocub.

“It’s disappointing because we played well in large parts of the game, so it’s hard to take,” he said. “We were guilty of not taking our chances when they came, especially in the first half. I felt we played very well in the first half.

“We created loads of opportunities, just seeing the stats, we had more shots, more shots on target as well, and were really competitive. It’s frustrating, but we’re proud of our performance for most of the game.

“Just disappointing that there was maybe a 15-minute spell where we kind of dipped a little bit and were punished, and that’s what happens against good teams.”

Thursday’s match was Hearts’ second defeat in six matches under Neil Critchley, who appears to be in the process of turning things around at Tynecastle after replacing Steven Naismith last month.

“We’re going in the right direction, we’ve shown that against a top team,” said Kingsley. “The signs are there that we’re on the right trajectory.

“We’re picking up wins as well, so hopefully we just keep building that momentum and take it forward into the league games coming up, and then the European games that we’ve got left.”