Wouter Vrancken praises Hearts’ tenacity after Rapid Vienna comeback

Wouter Vrancken urged his Hearts players to take belief from their stunning comeback in Vienna as he hailed their team spirit following Conference League qualification.

Hearts knocked Rapid Vienna out on penalties and reached the group stage following a 2-2 draw in Austria.

Hearts bounced back from conceding the opening goal and losing Tomas Magnusson to a 75th-minute red card to take the game to extra-time through Landry Kabore’s equaliser.

The 10 men went ahead in the tie through Calvin Miller’s volley and Hearts again recovered from the blow of conceding in the 119th minute, which made it 4-4 on aggregate.

Goalkeeper Beau Reus saved twice during the shoot-out to send Hearts through and show they can compete away from home in Europe following heavy defeats by Sturm Graz and Benfica in the Champions and Europa leagues respectively.

Vrancken told BBC Scotland: “We played a really bad first half, a little bit similar as we did in Benfica. We had a game plan and we didn’t show the guts to follow up.

“We were already pretty angry at half-time, and we came out, we did much better. We took the game in our hands, we were dominant at that moment.

“They have to learn that they’re a good team, that they’re good players, that they can show it and show the guts every time, every week, every game.

“Because in the last away games in Europe, you see that they’re a little bit scared to do things, to take risks or to give spaces away. Then we don’t play our game.

“But the progress of the team is amazing. The team spirit, I saw it from the first session.

“They want to learn. They wanted to have feedback, they want to go into it and the kind of football we played. This is the result, they get rewarded, and I’m so happy for them.”