Heart of Midlothian

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Gary Locke insists "one result will kickstart" Hearts' season as they look to beat Viktoria Plzen and seal a place in the Europa League.

The Jambos are yet to win a game this season and trail Plzen 1-0 after the first leg, but Locke says a Tynecastle turnaround is not beyond them.

"There's pressure on every manager, that's one thing about the job that I certainly don't miss," former captain and boss Locke told BBC Radio Scotland.

"You lose a couple of games and all of a sudden you're the worst manager in the world. if you win a couple of games, you're the best manager.

"We've not started the season how we would have liked but I thought we played well last week in the Czech Republic.

"I certainly saw enough in the tie to suggest we can go through. With a full house right behind the team, if we can score early, we’re very much right back in the tie and hopefully we can go on to win.

"Steven [Naismith] had a slow start last year and did a great job of turning it around. One result will kickstart our season and hopefully that'll come tonight."

Former Hearts and Czech Republic striker Roman Bednar believes the Tynecastle factor could be key in the Europa League play-off second leg on Thursday night against Viktoria Plzen, who lead 1-0 after an injury-time winner a week ago.

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Hearts pair Kenneth Vargas and Gerald Taylor have been called up by Costa Rica for their Nations League games next month.

Forward Vargas, 22, has earned six caps for the senior side while 23-year-old defender Taylor has played seven times and scored once in those outings.

Costa Rica face Guadeloupe on 6 September and Guatemala four days later.

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Viktoria Plzen boss Miroslav Koubek says it is "laughable" to think Hearts are a weak side despite their early-season struggles.

Steven Naismith's men are winless so far in all competitions this term, with four straight defeats following their goalless draw with Rangers on the Premiership opening day.

Plzen take a 1-0 lead to Tynecastle for the second leg of the Europa League play-off on Thursday and Koubek has pledged the Czechs won't sit on their advantage.

"The suggestion that Hearts would be a weak side is laughable," he said.

"A team that draws with Rangers in the Premiership, can they be a weak side? I think not.

"I knew it would be a hard tie and that Hearts will be difficult opponents, so we play with the utmost respect. We definitely do not underestimate anyone.

"Definitely, we want to score. We are not here to defend a 1-0 because that is no advantage. It's good to have that result.

"Hearts will not play the way they played in Plzen, they will need to push forward and be on the offensive. We expect them to be more open because of that."

Plzen have sold Czech international defender Robin Hranac to Hoffenheim since the first leg.

"It leaves a hole in the squad," said Koubek. "But everyone can be replaced. We are slightly better prepared because Hranac played at the Euros so wasn't with us during the summer."

Craig Gordon insisted he would have no worries about Hearts' ability to be competitive in the Europa League if they could overcome Viktoria Plzen in the second leg of their play-off tie on Thursday.

The Tynecastle side must overturn a 1-0 deficit against their Czech opponents to qualify for Europe's secondary tournament for the first time since its rebrand in 2009.

Manchester United, Tottenham, Lazio and Roma make up some of the teams guaranteed to be in this season's revamped competition.

If Hearts lose to Plzen they would drop into the Conference League, but Gordon is eyeing a Europa League place.

"It would be huge for everyone, for every single player, to get to that level and test yourself with some of the best European teams," said the veteran goalkeeper.

"The standard across all the European competitions is so high. You just have to look at some of the names in the Europa League this season.

"We are desperate to be a part of that and play in as big a competition as we possibly can."

Asked if he felt his club were ready to compete at such a level, Gordon said: "Yeah. How do you know? You have to go there and give it your best shot.

"It doesn't matter what competition it is, I think we can be confident of doing well, but we want to be in the biggest competition we possibly can."

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Hearts boss Steven Naismith is confident his side can reach the Europa League even if they have to do without Lawrence Shankland in the play-off second leg against Viktoria Plzen.

A knee injury makes Scotland striker Shankland a doubt for Thursday's game at Tynecastle where Hearts will look to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit.

"Definitely," Naismith said. "This season I think Kenneth Vargas has had more shots than Lawrence in all the games but it's about taking them.

"Liam Boyce has looked sharp in pre-season, he's had to be patient and we've got James Wilson who's young and eager.

"It's not just about the strikers though. We need to create good chances. That comes from guys like Blair Spittal, Yan Dhanda and Jorge Grant."

Hearts are guaranteed a further eight matches in Europe's secondary competition if they overcome the Czechs, while defeat would drop them into the Conference League.

"The reward at the end of this 90 minutes, maybe 120 minutes, is massive," said Naismith.

"It's very rarely done by teams outwith the Old Firm. We've got a great opportunity.

"We played them last week and we carried a threat and defended really well until the last action of the game, so it's within our grasp.

"We need to do things better than we have been doing domestically but it would be a fantastic achievement to get there."

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Steven Naismith has been speaking to the media before Hearts face Viktoria Plzen in Thursday's Europa League play-off second leg at Tynecastle.

Here are the key lines from the press conference:

• Lawrence Shankland is a doubt for the game with an "ache in his knee from a contact injury". Naismith adds: "There is not much turnaround from the games and not much training. We will give it as long as possible and see how he is."

• Naismith says Hearts' winless start to the season stems from "conceding cheaper goals than we have in the past", but is confident in his squad.

• New signings "will make mistakes" as they take time to adapt but the Hearts boss insists the errors can be eradicated.

• Naismith accepts the criticism that comes with defeats and is "comfortable with that".

• He thinks the second leg will be a similar game to last week's 1-0 defeat, adding: "The late goal doesn’t change the tie that much. We were always going to have to score to go through."

• On whether he will change formation, Naismith says: "We will wait and see. We will put a team out that we think can win the game. Potentially we want to be a bit more aggressive at times but it will be a great night."

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland is a doubt for Thursday night's Europa League play-off second leg against Viktoria Plzen.

The Scotland striker picked up a knee injury in the defeat to Motherwell on Sunday and has not trained this week.

Head coach Steven Naismith says he will give the 29-year-old as long as possible to prove his fitness for what would be his 100th Hearts apperance.

Naismith's side are aiming to overturn a 1-0 deficit against the Czech side at Tynecastle.

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Hearts fans are scratching their heads right now and rightly asking questions about the poor form so far this campaign.

Just how can a team that was easily the third best in the country last season struggle to both score goals and keep clean sheets?

Fans look to the manager to find solutions and there has been criticism of Steven Naismith and his constant changes of system and personnel.

There is little doubt this may well be a factor but the players themselves must take a long hard look in the mirror at how they have performed.

Kye Rowles looks a shadow of the player who performed in the World Cup in Qatar in late 2022. Those performances helped earn the Australia defender a new five year-contract at Tynecastle but he has been poor for some time and can no longer be looked upon as a certain starter.

Then you look towards the top end of the pitch. Liam Boyce and talisman striker Lawrence Shankland have looked nowhere close to the form that helped the club achieve the success they have in recent years.

Yet there is still hope. A win by more than one goal on Thursday night against Viktoria Plzen at Tynecastle would take Hearts into the new format of the Europa League and bring in funds the club could only dream about a few years ago.

So the players need no incentive. They know what is at stake and although they have the security of the Conference League to fall back on, that should be nowhere in their thoughts as they step out into the cauldron at Tynecastle.

The fans have backed the club enormously over the past 10 years. They deserve some payback and the players can deliver that this week.

Greg Playfair
Fan writer

Forget Oasis, the reunion that Jambos are desperate to see this week is between Hearts and winning so we can stop crying our hearts out.

In the mind of some fans, seeing Liam and Noel Gallagher rocking on the same stage in harmony feels more recent than the 3-0 victory against Dundee in May given the winless start to this season.

Some might say it’s not harmonious within the Gorgie support following last Sunday’s 3-1 defeat against Motherwell, in what was unquestionably our worst performance this campaign.

I said last week that questions need to be firstly asked of the players and I’d maintain that for this week, however head coach Steven Naismith will start to come under focus.

The masterplan against Viktoria Plzen worked for 95 minutes, where we were solid until the ball bundled in off of Daniel Oyegoke.

Then Sunday morning called and that performance at Fir Park followed. It appeared some players were still half asleep with there again being individual errors, most notably from our new wing-backs Gerald Taylor and Andres Salazar.

The constant debate between the back three and back four is going nowhere, and I totally understand why we kept the same shape following the performance in Plzen, but I don’t think it works in most domestic games where teams sit in against us.

Naismith is understandably being asked questions about Blair Spittal’s effectiveness as a deep-lying midfielder, having said following his deployment there in pre-season that it "didn’t work".

I know Naismith has said he doesn’t expect to be busy ahead of the transfer window closing but it’s important that we get at least one body in.

For me, a striker has to come in following the departure of Kyosuke Tagawa and Liam Boyce's prowess appearing to fade away.

I would go for a target man. Lyndon Dykes and Callum Paterson have been rumoured, and while I think both are unlikely due to their wages earned down south, it’s that type of profile we should target.

I don’t want to think about the Dundee United game on Sunday just yet, which will be difficult given current circumstances. We just need to take it one game at a time, starting with Plzen.

We need to go let it out and be attacking from the first half. If we can qualify for the Europa League, then little by little our form and season will start to pick up.

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Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland and goalkeeper Zander Clark have both retained their places in Steve Clarke's Scotland squad.

The pair feature in the 24-man set-up for the opening Nations League double-header with Poland and Portugal next month, but there is no spot for Craig Gordon.

The 41-year-old, who was omitted from Clarke's final selection for Euro 2024, has played Hearts' last three matches.

Fellow keeper Clark had been out briefly with a back issue and was named on the bench for the weekend defeat at Motherwell.

Shankland, meanwhile, failed to start any of Scotland's Euro 2024 matches in Germany and has not scored in five games this season, with Hearts yet to win.

Click here to read more on Clarke's Scotland squad.

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"Frustrated" Steven Naismith warned his players their current form "can’t go on" after their defeat to Motherwell left them without a win in five competitive games this season.

The Gorgie side slumped to a fourth consecutive loss as two headers from set-pieces helped Stuart Kettlewell's side to a 3-1 win.

Head coach Naismith cited the first two goals as "poor" and acknowledged Hearts' handling of such situations "needs fixed".

"It’s poor," he said. "There’s nothing else to be said. Even the third goal is poor. Every goal we've conceded this season has been really, really poor.

"Our decision-making, quality of defending and timing of when we drop has been really poor and it's costing us big time at the moment.

"We need to fix it. It can't go on the way it is. On the other side we need to be better at making chances. The quality of our final ball is lacking massively.”

Yutaro Oda's goal at Fir Park was just Hearts' second of the season, and the lack of potency up top is evidently frustrating the supporters who once again booed their side off.

"It's frustrating," added Naismith. "At the moment, in both boxes we're second best.

"In the final third, our final pass and decision-making was poor and when we got shots we didn't make the most of them.

"In both boxes, we're not at the level we need to be at."

Watch highlights from Motherwell's win over Hearts in the Scottish Premiership.

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We asked you for your views following Hearts' defeat to Motherwell.

Here's a flavour of what you had to say:

Tom: Yet another league match where we were outbattled, outrun and ultimately outplayed. on top of that our key man, Shankland, looks well out of form although he is not getting much in the way of support from others. I really hope things change soon.

Mark: Naismith has taken Hearts as far as he can just like Neilson did. I feel we have over recruited this transfer window which has led to him having to rotate the squad every week. Spittal and Dhanda have not looked anywhere like their best and the South American guys will need at least one season to adapt to our game just like Vargas did.

Kuptin: Hearts seem to be lacking confidence, just waiting for the next disaster to happen – as are the fans. Not easy to turn that around, but these are good players. They should be good enough, whatever tactics Naismith deploys. The four lost games have all been away games. Let's reserve judgement until we see what two home games bring.

George: Team selection, team formation, team attitude is all being mismanaged, seriously concerned the season will be over and done for Hearts by Christmas.

Jim: I've heard people say Hearts haven’t turned into a bad team overnight, well it looks like they have. We have a manager on a new contract who is still looking for his best eleven, we have a very accident prone defence having conceded three goals in two away games and we’re already chasing the pack with only a handful of games played. It’s pretty dire.

John: Completely unacceptable from the team and the management today. They just don’t look interested. No intensity and no hunger. Shankland just looks frustrated the whole time but then doesn’t do anything when given service. Boyce looks like he’s just been told he’s a footballer.

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Viktoria Plzen will travel to Tynecastle to face Hearts on Thursday without Czech Republic centre-half Robin Hranac after they announced with "regret" that they had accepted "an extraordinary offer" from Bundesliga club Hoffenheim for the 24-year-old.

Hranac, who has six caps and appeared in all three of their country's games at Euro 2024, started last week's Europa League play-off first leg, with Viktoria establishing a 1-0 lead thanks to John Mosquera's stoppage-time winner.

But general manager and chairman Adolf Sadek told his club website: "The offer was built in such a way that the transfer must take place immediately or it will not be feasible.

"The player himself also showed interest in accepting it."

Hranac, who came through the club's academy and helped them finish third in the Czech top flight last season, will join international team-mates Pavel Kaderabek, Adam Hlozek and David Jurasek at the German club.

The defender said he will look back fondly at "beautiful moments" with Viktoria but pointed out that "playing in the Bundesliga is another dream".

Meanwhile, Viktoria had a free domestic weekend to prepare for the second leg in Edinburgh.

Hearts head coach Steven Naismith talks to BBC Scotland after his side were beaten 3-1 by Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership.

Motherwell picked up their first victory of the new Premiership season, punishing sloppy Hearts at Fir Park.

Headed goals from Paul McGinn and Stephen O'Donnell, both from set-pieces, undid Steven Naismith's side, who looked particularly shaky at the back.

Yutaro Oda got one back for the visitors, before Tom Sparrow intercepted an under-hit backpass to fire in a third and restore the hosts' two-goal advantage.

The defeat leaves Hearts without a win in their first five games of the season.

What did you think of that, Hearts fans? What's going wrong for Steven Naismith at the moment?

Where does the next win come from? Do you need to recruit more players?

Let us know your thoughts, external.

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Hearts head coach Steven Naismith told BBC Scotland: "Disappointed. The story of the game was in both boxes - not good enough. The goals we've conceded are really poor.

"Every goal this season, we've given the opposition a helping hand. Today especially, the execution of final ball wasn't at a level to cause Motherwell problems.

"We made it a difficult task to get back into it - just like in the Dundee game. We aren't putting that pressure on Motherwell to get ourselves back in the game. We don't get the ball into the final third as much as we should have.

"Decision making on the pitch is what's costing us, it's plain to see. It's really frustrating. We need to be switched on much better.

"Last season we did the same [switched formations a lot]. Our defensive record was really good. The other night, we defended set plays well as a five. It's small details that have a big impact and players within the squad need to understand how big an impact those small margins have."

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

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While Motherwell looked assured tactically, full of confidence in attack, Hearts were the complete opposite.

They enjoyed plenty of possession in the first half but created very little as they struggled to get Alan Forrest or Yan Dhanda involved.

Defensively, they were at sixes and sevens for all three Motherwell goals as the hosts exposed a weak spot in the back-line. From every set piece, there was a nervousness and an expectation that Motherwell would threaten.

The summer recruitment drive - lauded in quarters originally - suddenly seems poor and more bodies might be needed, despite the squad already looking fairly bloated.

The lack of consistency in team selection or tactical style has resulted in confusion across the park, while Shankland looks exhausted up top.

Last season started slowly, too. There are dissenting voices already, but Naismith has turned the ship around before.

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Motherwell: Oxborough, O'Donnell, Casey, Gordon, McGinn, Wilson, Zdravkovski, Halliday, Miller, Maswanhise, Robinson.

Substitutes: Hegyi, Seddon, Balmer, Sparrow, Kaleta, Ebiye, Wells, Ferrie, Watt.

Hearts: Gordon, Kingsley, Kent, Rowles, Taylor, Spittal, Boateng, Salazar, Forrest, Dhanda, Shankland.

Substitutes: Clark, Halkett, Oyegoke, Grant, McKay, Oda, Devlin, Boyce, Vargas.

Viktoria Plzen are on the brink of selling defender Robin Hranac to Hoffenheim for £8m and the 24-year-old could exit before Thursday's Europa League play-off second leg against Heart of Midlothian. (Record), external

Read Sunday's Scottish gossip

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Hearts need to repeat Viktoria Plzen performance against Motherwell says manager Steven Naismith.

The Edinburgh outfit trail Plzen 1-0 after the first leg away from home but have a trip to Motherwell before the home left of the match.

"We showed we can create good chances," Naismith said.

"I thought overall our defending was good, our structure was good and our energy was good.

"So that was more like the Rangers performance than Falkirk and Dundee.

"We will need that on Sunday and we will need that next Thursday."