Heart of Midlothian

Ex-Hearts goalkeeper Zdenek Zlamal says a pacey counter-attack approach could be the key to success for his former side away to Viktoria Plzen.

Following a draw with Rangers and disappointing back-to-back defeats to Dundee and second-tier Falkirk, Steven Naismith's men travel to the Czech Republic on Thursday for the first leg of their Europa League play-off.

Meanwhile, Plzen have started their campaign with six wins and a draw from their opening seven games.

The Czech side also boast an impressive European record in recent times, having reached the last eight of the Conference League last term.

But Zlamal, who played for Hearts between 2018 and 2021, feels a lack of pace in the Plzen team could leave them vulnerable.

"The key for Hearts is the counter-attacks," the Czech keeper told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"The Plzen defenders, and especially the midfielders and wing-backs, they are not fast and I know Hearts have fast wingers.

"So I think it is key for Hearts that they have an active compact block and when they get the ball, get it straight to wingers."

On the atmosphere Hearts and their travelling fans can expect, Zlamal added: "It will be great because it's a really crucial match for Plzen and also for Hearts."

Former striker Lee Miller, who turned out for Dundee United, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock among others, recounts his experiences of being on the move on transfer deadline day during his playing career.

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Hearts "can right the things that are wrong and bring back a bit of a feel-good factor" in Thursday's Europa League play-off first leg with Viktoria Plzen, says defender Stephen Kingsley. (Record), external

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Greg Playfair
Fan writer

Success in the League Cup and Hearts go as well together as taking a drink of orange juice immediately after brushing your teeth.

Last Saturday evening, it was Jambos who were left with a bitter aftertaste following our shock exit at lower-league Falkirk.

If you believed some of my fellow supporters' posts on social media in the aftermath, you'd believe our prospects this season have gone down the tubes following a second straight defeat in all competitions.

Questions need to be asked, of course, as to how we found ourselves omitted from the quarter-final cup draw, but I'm intrigued as to why a lot of fans attribute the defeat solely to Steven Naismith.

It’s argued he made far too many changes - eight in total - from the defeat in Dundee and was deploying players in the wrong positions, stifling their abilities.

The biggest talking point was Lawrence Shankland resting on the bench, with Thursday’s Europa League qualifier in mind.

But even without Shankland, Hearts should have been at least a couple of goals to the good in the first 15 minutes alone.

I've debated with a few people who say Shankland would have taken at least one of those chances and there is a probability he would have, but I feel that's an indictment on the rest of our team.

Despite some mudslinging from prominent Jambos who work in the media towards Naismith, I think fingers should be pointed at the players.

That second-half showing after being one goal down was poor and substitutions were made, but ultimately we weren’t good enough.

For me, there are players either lacking in confidence or perhaps are overconfident in their abilities following a promising showing in the first game against Rangers.

There's no better opportunity to bounce back with a European game away to Viktoria Plzen to galvanize the support. It’s a tricky tie given their recent pedigree in continental competition.

But the fact we have the second leg at home at Tynecastle next week could be the deciding factor and there’s no doubt we will use the experience from Rosenborg last season.

To paraphrase Limmy, "They've turned The Bairns against us".

Hearts' League Cup exit to Falkirk on Saturday was a last-16 upset, but just the latest episode of Jambo misery when the sides collide in cup competitions.

The bogey run began with a 4-0 spanking at Brockville in the Scottish Cup third round back in January 2023 as Hearts fell victim to the then second-tier Bairns.

The Tynecastle side triumphed 2-1 in a League Cup meeting between the sides later that year, but suffered another Scottish Cup humbling with a 1-0 home defeat in 2009.

Falkirk edged a seven-goal League Cup thriller the following year after Hearts' Craig Thomson was shown an early red card, before Hearts secured a 1-0 victory with a Sean Clare penalty on their run to the 2020 Scottish Cup final.

After the latest mishap, can Steven Naismith's side bounce back with an upset of their own against Viktoria Plzen in Thursday's Europa League play-off first leg?

Image source, Getty Images

Recent form: Viktoria Plzen warmed up for their Europa League play-off first leg at home to Hearts with a comfortable 3-0 win away to Ceske Budejovice. That result extended their unbeaten start to their league campaign and they sit second with 13 points, two points off 100%-record boasting Sparta Prague.

That form was replicated in their third qualifying round tie with Ukraine's Kryvbas. Miroslav Koubek's side won 2-1 in their away leg and followed that up with a 1-0 home victory.

European pedigree: Plzen are less experienced in continental terms than either Sparta or Slavia Prague but most of their games in Uefa competitions have come in the past 14 years.

Group stage campaigns in the Champions League and Conference League over the past two years have brought contrasting fortunes. They lost all six games in the premier competition in season 2022-23 but won six out of six in their Conference League group last term.

They reached the quarter-finals and only lost to Fiorentina after extra time. Other opponents last season included Servette, who they beat on penalties in the round of 16, and group opponents Astana, Ballkani and Dynamo Zagreb.

Dangermen: Czech Republic attacker Pavel Sulc and Daniel Vasulin are Plzen's top scorers, each with three goals from seven appearances. Two of Vasulin's goals came in the Kryvbas tie.

Slovakia international midfielder Erik Jirka has also provided a couple of goals but Brazilian Ricardinho, a summer signing from Levski Sofia, is yet to get off the mark.

Like Sulc, Lukas Cerv and Robin Hranac were part of the Czech Republic's Euro 2024 squad.

Image source, SNS

Former Scotland defender Jackie McNamara believes Hearts head coach Steven Naismith is rotating his players in "the right way".

Following back-to-back defeats to Dundee and second-tier Falkirk, the Tynecastle boss is facing criticism from fans for tinkering with his team.

The Gorgie side will have to juggle domestic and European football for at least the first half of this term, with their continental action kicking off this Thursday in the first leg of their Europa League play-off with Viktoria Plzen.

Due to the intense schedule that brings, McNamara has backed Naismith's strategy despite a ropey start to the season.

"They're going to need all the players," he tells the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast. "They've made a lot of changes, [but] it's still quality he's starting with.

"He can't have Lawrence Shankland playing every minute of every game, so he's relying on lots of boys coming in and getting goals.

"Domestic stuff should take care of itself, but he's juggling. He's got a lot of players he needs to get up to speed and get ready, that's the difficulty.

"He'll be looking just now at what ones he trusts to handle the job and the pressure, because now with the two defeats there's a wee bit of pressure.

"Hopefully he can get a good performance and result on Thursday and settle everything down, then you go and have a good successful campaign from there."

We asked you for your thoughts following Hearts' League Cup exit at the hands of Falkirk.

You had plenty to say, here's a taste of it...

Maca: Another pathetic performance from Hears, lacking drive and quality of any kind. The manager has not got a clue as the system keeps changing and it's clear the players do not understand the plan... if there is one! Giving the manager a new contract after this start is strange to say the least. Things need to change or our season will be over by October.

Derek: With the quality Hearts have in the squad, it’s frustrating they don’t seem to have the motivation to really achieve something this season. Not sure why the management can’t get more out of them! They don’t play with the same enjoyment or hunger as say Dundee at the moment, on the front foot. They also look pedestrian so not sure they are fully fit.

David: With a large influx of new, good quality players we could expect that they would need time to blend together. That time is now up! The most worrying aspect is our complete inability to score goals with even Shankland struggling which suggests he wants to move on and no replacement in sight- worrying times.

David: Too many changes and no clear style of play. None of the new signings look up to it so far and returning players like Halkett and Boyce look finished at Premiership level. I'm not looking forward to Viktoria Plzen.

Kuptin: Naismith is right - squad rotation isn’t working, but that’s the players’ fault in the end. Shankland looks unfit. Worst of all, all the fans commenting on social media will call for the manager to be sacked. As predictable as losing to a team unbeaten on their plastic pitch for ages.

Douglas: To me it’s obvious that if the team is constantly rotated and the system is changed from one week to the next players will have little idea of how they fit into the team. Recent results speak for themselves. I recall Alex Ferguson always played the same 4-4-2 system with the strongest team available to him. Perhaps that is the lesson to be learned.

Jamie: Nothing else to say apart from embarrassing.

Alan: Probably a case of Hearts players believing their own press after a decent start against Rangers. As gutted as I am about getting knocked out the cup, we haven't become a bad team overnight and could easily have thumped Falkirk. But if any players think they'll keep the jersey without giving 100%, they're in for a shock because the fans won't wear it.

Falkirk stunned top-flight Hearts to reach the Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals.

Ethan Ross and Dylan Tait's second-half goals eliminated last season's semi-finalists and continued Hearts' winless start to the campaign.

Steven Naismith's visitors created a glut of chances in the opening period and not even the second-half introduction of Lawrence Shankland could force a goal against the Championship newcomers.

John McGlynn's side, who had Ryan Shanley sent off late on, will discover their last-eight opponents when the draw is made on Sunday.

Click here, external to have your say on Hearts' defeat.

Hearts head coach Steven Naismith: "Ultimately we're really disappointed, we're out the cup. The tale of the game is you've got to take your chances. We create four really good chances in the first half but you've got to take them. Cup football is defined by that.

"The second goal absolutely kills us in terms of any sort of momentum. There's no excuse.

"We ultimately need to just put 11 players on the park that are going to win us the game and if that's keeping the same team or keeping the majority even with our tight schedule then we'll need to do that. It probably clears that part up, that we maybe can't rotate as much as we would've liked."

Hearts keeper Craig Gordon made some fine saves at the Falkirk Stadium, despite losing two goals.

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

An early exit from the League Cup will be a massive frustration and another blow to confidence as Hearts enter the Europa League arena for the first time this season with a play-off first leg away to Czech side Viktoria Plzen on Thursday.

However, Hearts' start to the game belied their winless start to the Premiership campaign, with Yutaro Oda and Kenneth Vargas in particular causing the Bairns problems. They just couldn't take their chances.

The visitors were perturbed by a cynical challenge by Sean Mackie on Vargas that resulted in a yellow card, seeming to suggest it should have been red. Another flashpoint involved Vargas pushing Brad Spencer after being fouled. Both were booked.

Image source, SNS

Craig Gordon replaces Zander Clark in goal and captains Hearts in Lawrence Shankland's absence.

Craig Halkett and Stephen Kingsley form a new central defensive partnership, Malachi Boateng, Blair Spittal and Yan Dhanda are the new trio in midfield and Yutaro Oda and Liam Boyce join the attack.

Daniel Oyegoke, Kye Rowles, Cammy Devlin, Jorge Grant, Barrie McKay and Shankland drop to the bench, while Frankie Kent misses out.

Falkirk: Hogarth, Mackie, Donaldson, Henderson, Adams, Spencer, Oliver, Ross, Tait, Miller MacIver.

Substitutes: Hayward, Yeats, McCann, Agyeman, Shanley, Sinclair, McCafferty, McCrone.

Heart of Midlothian: Gordon, Taylor, Halkett, Kingsley, Penrice, Spittal, Boateng, Dhanda, Oda, Boyce, Vargas.

Substitutes: Clark, Oygoke, Grant, Shankland, McKay, Devlin, Rowles, Forrest, Musa.