Heart of Midlothian

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Hearts boss Neil Critchley believes Kilmarnock will be "rubbing their hands" at the prospect of facing the Jambos on the back of a European away game.

Critchley's side lost 2-0 to Copenhagen on Thursday night in Denmark, and will travel to Ayrshire on Sunday as they return to league duties.

"They're all big games," Critchley told HeartsTV. "Kilmarnock away, they'll be rubbing their hands together that we have played on Thursday night and it's always a tough place to go to.

"But that's the game. We have to be ready. We can't dwell on this game, keep moving forward, and we've got an important game coming up in the league now."

Hearts lost to Kilmarnock just a few weeks ago, throwing away a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 at Tynecastle.

A win for Critchley's side would see them leapfrog their hosts in the table, and they could potentially rise up to eighth in the Premiership table if results go their way.

Cammy Devlin, 26, puts his heated exchange with Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland, 29, during Thursday's Conference League defeat by Copenhagen as "just football" and insists: "We're fine." (Record), external

Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon, 41, is bemused as to how he conceded a penalty against Copenhagen rather than being awarded a free-kick for Amin Chiaka's challenge. (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription), external

Read Saturday's Scottish gossip

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• Kilmarnock have only suffered two defeats in their last 12 Scottish Premiership meetings with Hearts (W6 D4), winning their first league match against them this season 2-1 in October.

• Hearts have kept a clean sheet in their last two league visits to Kilmarnock (W1 D1), this after conceding 2+ goals in each of their previous three at Rugby Park in the Scottish Premiership.

• No side has earned fewer points at home in the Scottish Premiership this season than Kilmarnock (6), who have won just once in their last eight league games at Rugby Park (D4 L3), beating Rangers 1-0 in October.

• Hearts have only won one of their last 11 away league outings (D3 L7), beating St Johnstone 2-1 in early November.

• Only Aston Oxborough (55) has made more saves in the Scottish Premiership this season than Kilmarnock's Robby McCrorie (42), who has made at least three saves in each of his last five league appearances.

We asked for your views on Hearts' 2-0 defeat against Copenhagen in the Conference League.

Here's what some of you said:

Iain: Poor stuff yet again. We'll be lucky to get out of this group now. Craig Halkett is a decent player but he's permanently injured so he's no use. Too many players and board members happy to take a substantial wage and live well but give nothing for it. We're in big trouble, mark my words.

Steve: 2-0 going on 6-0. The penalty was atrocious! The opposition was strong but had a weak defence, sadly we never troubled them. No pace in this team which many have identified but done nothing about. Top marks to Craig Gordon and James Penrice who stood out by a country mile. Frankie Kent's loss is huge. I think we'll get three points next week to make the play-offs.

Alex: That's three times now in Europe against top opposition that Neil Critchley has looked out of his depth. Tactics all over the place and substitutions that made no impact. European games are starting to follow a familiar pattern.

Pete: Copenhagen were a level above so the result isn't too disappointing but this squad is in need of some emergency surgery. We can't rely on injury-prone players like Halkett and we are desperately lacking pace and quality up front and out wide. Alan Forrest epitomises the limitations of the squad, just not good enough.

Chris: That was bad. We are bad. You can play good teams and lose but the manner in which we lost is actually embarrassing on a major European stage. What Gordon is doing at nearly 42 is unfathomable, he is somehow getting better each week and stopped this being a much higher score. He deserves better than this expensive mess of a team in front of him.

Jim: Critchley is Steven Naismith in disguise. Cannot find a settled team. Spend what we have earned in Europe by sacking Andrew McKinlay and Critchley. Copenhagen are a good team, but our stats were terrible.

Goalkeeper Craig Gordon was "very frustrated" with FC Copenhagen's controversial penalty in Hearts' 2-0 Conference League defeat in Demark and says it's now "all or nothing" when Petrocub visit Tynecastle next week.

Hearts' hopes of Conference League progression now rest on their final league-stage match against Moldovan side Petrocub, following a lacklustre defeat in Copenhagen.

Second-half goals by Amin Chiakha and Kevin Diks secured a deserved win for the Danish league leaders, who climb above Hearts in the table.

Copenhagen dominated possession from the start and their impressive pressing kept the visitors penned in their own half.

Whether you were in Copenhagen or watched on from elsewhere, we want your thoughts on the game.

Give us your take here., external

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Hearts head coach Neil Critchley: "I think you just have to hold your hands up sometimes and say the better team won.

"They were the best team we've played in this competition, I think that was evident on the pitch.

"We came with the plan to try and have a go, but when you're playing against very technical players, it's hard to pick those moments when to go and when we did, they picked us off which can then unnerve the players.

"They got into our penalty box too many times. We had some moments where we were wasteful, but we were still in the game at 1-0.

"We had a plan and we were just on the cusp of doing that, to have a right go at the end of the game when a really poor decision took that opportunity to have a real go away.

"They were the better team, they deserved to win but, at 1-0 you're waiting for that moment and a poor decision took that away from us.

"If we thought we were going to come here and they wouldn't have chances, we'd be mistaken. You need a bit of luck and fortune, we had that when it hit the bar in the first half, we didn't for the penalty decision - you need those things to go your way.

"In these games, all your limitations get exposed. Technical, physical, intelligence. At times, we found it difficult.

"The first goal was a bad goal and a bad moment, we're normally better than that. For him to travel as far as he did unchallenged was poor from our point of view.

"I don't at all think it's a penalty. It's a natural coming together, you can't make players disappear. Both players get a touch on the ball. It was a really bad decision."

On Frankie Kent's injury: "It is his quad, but it's too early to say. It's not ideal, we're becoming stretched in that position."

George O'Neill
BBC Sport Scotland

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Critchley promised not to park the bus against a team he described as the strongest Hearts have faced in Europe this season.

However, the Gorgie side struggled to get out of their own half in the opening 45 minutes, and were second best to the Danes in every department.

The plan was clearly to use Lawrence Shankland's hold-up play and Kenneth Vargas' pace to get up the park, but Copenhagen dealt with Hearts' front two with ease and launched attack upon attack, with Penrice's superb tackle keeping it goalless.

The early concession in the second half undermined the battling work in the first 45, and from there, Copenhagen upped the pace further.

Gordon got down to his left to keep out a close-range Thomas Delaney header and just moments later sprung to his right to deny Chaikha, who looked certain to add his second after Hearts were opened up all too easily.

The visitors did finally have a shot on the hour mark, but Cammy Devlin's deflected effort was closer to the corner flag than the Copenhagen goal.

There was only one side who ever looked likely to add to the scoreline, and the hosts did so late on after Chiakha went to ground having collided with Gordon.

The Hearts goalkeeper got a touch on the ball, but was deemed - perhaps harshly - to have fouled the young striker.

Diks calmly dispatched the spot kick to ensure victory in a totally one-sided contest.

Critchley now has four wins from 12 in charge of Hearts, and go to Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday before their meeting with Petrocub.

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Former Celtic forward Mohamed Elyounoussi is one of several Copenhagen players for Hearts to be wary of when the sides clash in the Conference League on Thursday.

The Danish side have just five points from their three games so far - one fewer than Hearts - and urgently need a victory.

Still, they have the quality in their squad in order to do just that, according to Danish football journalist Sebastian Stanbury.

"They have many players who are able to decide a game. Elyounoussi, he's not always the player who takes the game by the scruff of the neck and dictates it, but he very often decides it," Stanbury told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"They have a couple of players like that. Viktor Claesson can do it, Andreas Cornelius on a good day can do it. Thomas Delaney, the former national player of Denmark, can do it.

"They have players who are able to decide a game and that's very important for them and has been very important for them."

Stanbury says the feeling in Denmark is that Copenhagen should beat Hearts, but there's some concern given their previous home matches in the competition.

The Danes lost against Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok, before a 2-2 draw against Istanbul Basaksehir.

"They haven't really been dominating the matches as much as we would have expected considering they are the biggest side in Denmark," Stanbury added.

"They should beat Hearts but they haven't proven this far that they have been able to win those type of matches at home."

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter in Copenhagen

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Blair Spittal is relishing his first taste of European group-stage football and has urged Hearts to learn from their frustrating defeat at Cercle Brugge when they face FC Copenhagen tonight.

Neil Critchley's men lost 2-0 in Belgium on their previous Conference League outing - with Lawrence Shankland missing a late penalty at 1-0 down - but have headed to Denmark boosted by their first win in six games after beating Dundee on Premiership duty at the weekend.

"It's a different experience playing in Europe," said the midfielder. "That's what you want as a player, to come to different countries and get experience of stadiums you don't play in every week.

"You look forward to what comes and we hope we can put on a performance.

"I think it [defeat in Brugge] was one of real frustration. I didn't think there was a lot between the teams.

"They punished us in key moments and that's something we need to learn from.

"We lost but I think overall in Europe we have performed really well. So against Copenhagen we know it will be a really tough test and we have to concentrate for a full 90 minutes."

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Hearts midfielder Beni Baningime has not travelled with the squad to Denmark because of the knee injury that saw him miss Saturday's win against Dundee.

Frankie Kent has trained and is fit to play though after his recent quad injury. Stephen Kinglsey is out long term with a hamstring injury, while Gerald Taylor and Calem Nieuwenhof remain sidelined.

Forward Musa Drammeh is not in the European squad.

FC Copenhagen are without defender Nicolai Boilesen, midfielder Rasmus Falk, who scored against Kilmarnock, and forwards Roony Bardghji and Elias Achouri.

However, Georgia right-back Giorgi Gocholeishvili is in the squad after missing the last two games with a foot injury.

Kilmarnock forward Derek McInnes is delighted Hearts forward Lawrence Shankland, 29, is suspended for this weekend's meeting of the sides. (Record), external

Read Thursday's Scottish gossip

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Hearts head coach Neil Critchley has urged his side to play with "courage" in Denmark as they seek a Conference League upset against an FC Copenhagen team he believes are on a par with the Old Firm.

Jacob Neestrup's side, who currently top the Danish league and beat Manchester United on their way to the Champions League round of 16 last season, are a point worse off than Hearts after four Conference League games.

"Copenhagen are on the same level as them [the Old Firm]," said Critchley.

"We know the level our game is going to have to be at to compete. But we have competed in those games for long spells and we have created chances in those games as well.

"We know we will have to be good without the ball because we are playing against a good team technically who control the game, but also we have to be good on the ball.

"We need to make sure when we win it back we don't just turn over and give them it back. We have to have courage and play our game and make it our game as best as it can be."

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter in Copenhagen

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Neil Critchley has been speaking to the media before Hearts face FC Copenhagen in the Conference League on Thursday.

Here are the key points from the Tynecastle boss:

• Beni Baningime has stayed in Edinburgh to receive treatment on a knee injury but could make Sunday's game at Kilmarnock. Frankie Kent has travelled and is fit to play.

• Critchley says Copenhagen will be the "strongest team" Hearts have faced so far in the Conference League, adding: "Technically they are a good team, they have a clear identity how they play in and out of possession."

• Hearts "don't want to go to the last game" - next Thursday's visit of Petrocub - to secure the point they need to reach the play-offs.

• The Jambos boss feels Copenhagen, who are on five points - one fewer than Hearts - "need to win" this game if they are to progress.

• With Lawrence Shankland having missed from the spot in the defeat at Cercle Brugge, Critchley wouldn't say who will take a penalty should Hearts be awarded one on Thursday.

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Some players can shrug off a defeat and move swiftly on to the next game. To them it is just a job.

But there are others who really struggle with losing and all it brings.

Over the past few months I have watched Lawrence Shankland endure some of the most painful moments a player can go through. Missing penalty kicks in crucial matches and hearing nasty comments being made about him by the same fans who just a few weeks earlier were singing his praises.

After scoring the two goals on Saturday that gave Hearts the win that lifted them off the bottom of the table, Shankland spoke about just how tough the last few months have been.

That in itself shows a mental strength. To speak about something that obviously hurt so much is an indication of how strong a character the striker has become.

He was open about the fact he has been using a mental skills coach, John Johnstone, to help him to cope with the good and bad parts of being a footballer.

Sports psychology is common among elite sportspeople. While it is largely unseen, there are few who have reached the top without the use of a mental skills coach.

Thanks to Shankland rediscovering his scoring touch, Hearts' victory over Dundee was the perfect tonic for the visit to Copenhagen on Thursday.

The Danes sit top of their domestic Superliga and their win over Dinamo Minsk last time out in the Conference League gives them an excellent chance of reaching the knockout stage.

Hearts, despite stuttering to defeats against Heidenheim and Cercle Brugge, are also on track to progress.

And maybe that Shankland double last weekend can be the springboard for himself and the team to create a little piece of history in ensuring European football beyond Christmas for the first time in over 30 years.

Greg Playfair
Fan writer

While the winner of the Celebrity Jungle was announced last Sunday, Lawrence Shankland looked to reclaim his crown as the Gorgie favourite following his return to the scoresheet in the victory over Dundee.

His double was greeted with overjoyed reactions from his team-mates and I felt like a proud dad when he netted his first, even though I'm only a few years older than him.

Both goals sum Shankland up perfectly. He wrestled off a defender to put an excellent header well beyond the goalkeeper. Then, for his second, he did what all good strikers do and anticipated the rebound and put himself into a position to score.

Head Coach Neil Critchley was roaring with pride too, perhaps in some relief that we were able to get the victory and move off the foot of the Premiership table.

We have three more games - Kilmarnock away and home matches versus St Johnstone and Hibs - before reaching the halfway stage in the Premiership season. We must target at least seven points from those games.

We will be without the suspended Shankland for Saturday's trip to Ayrshire, which will show how crucial he is to our side, but it's good we've got Musa Drammeh and James Wilson coming to the fore.

Before that is the trip to Copenhagen which should be enjoyable for supporters, more for off the pitch than on it. There's no doubting the quality of the side we're up against, who are regulars in the Champions League group stage most seasons.

I can see this being a similar game to our last trip to Cercle Brugge but I'm strangely more optimistic. I don't know if it's because midfielder Cammy Devlin is in the best form of his Hearts career and I fancy him faring well in the battle for possession, or if it's the return of Craig Halkett to the backline.

Frankie Kent has been off form this term and Kye Rowles and Halkett can complement each other well at the heart of defence.

I'm hopeful we can get to Sunday evening unbeaten.

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Hearts head coach Neil Critchley says his primary focus is getting the best out of captain and main striker Lawrence Shankland on the pitch despite much speculation about his future off it (Scotsman), external.

Meanwhile, Critchley has held talks with the club's new sporting director Graeme Jones about keeping both Craig Gordon and Zander Clark at Tynecastle beyond this season (Edinburgh Evening News), external.

James Penrice: The left-back has become a key component of the Tynecastle side, constantly providing width and crosses to devastating effect.

Lawrence Shankland: Finally, the real Lawrence Shankland is back. A pale shadow of himself for most of this season, but will those two goals versus Dundee ignite him once again? Hearts need their captain scoring goals if they are to be a top-six side this season.

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The reaction of the Hearts squad after Lawrence Shankland ended his goal drought shows the team always had full faith in their captain, says ex-Tynecastle defender Ryan McGowan.

The Scotland striker has faced criticism from some fans this season following a two-month spell without a goal.

But Shankland, who netted 31 times for Hearts last term, scored his first goals since late September in Saturday's league win over Dundee.

Speaking on the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast, McGowan said: "What I really like is you could see everybody in the squad was absolutely delighted for him.

"It puts to bed that little bit of a narrative people were saying about his attitude and body language being disappointing.

"When strikers aren't scoring, fans and pundits start looking to see if there's anything they can pick up on.

"But I think it has purely been goals that has been missing from his game. I think his link-up play and some of his overall performances have still been very good."

Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland is back on the radar of potential suitors after the 29-year-old ended his barren scoring spell with both goals in Saturday's 2-0 win over Dundee. (Daily Mail), external

Read Monday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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