Wouter Vrancken and James Wilson met the media ahead of the Jambos’ UEFA Conference League match against Trabzonspor.
The head coach confirmed that Oisin McEntee and Stuart Findlay didn’t make the trip to Turkey, due to injury but adds his side come into the match with belief, while acknowledging the level of opposition.
The press conference is available to watch in full on Hearts TV but some of the talking points can be read below.
Speaking at the Senol Gunes Sports Complex, Vrancken said:
“They scored a lot of goals. They have a lot of individual qualities. They can decide a game as an individual and not only Salah.
“They have a lot of potential, similar to Benfica when we played against them. The strength of the team.
“We have to also be ready and do better in some parts than on Sunday. But without losing the belief, without losing the guts and those things. We know that Trabzonspor are a top team.
“You cannot only focus on Salah because, like I said already, he's not the only one with a lot of qualities. There are a lot of players who can decide a game. But of course, he's a world-class player.
“It will not be easy, especially with such a player. But at the same time we have to also believe in the things we are doing. Like I said with the example from Benfica, there are also a lot of quality players who can decide a game.
We did that also in a team environment and team effort. It will be necessary also tomorrow. There are a lot of quality players who can change the result.
It's important to play as a team and get good results. We saw that in the Benfica game. We played very well and got better results.”
James Wilson added:
“We're looking forward to this game. It's a great opportunity, in a great stadium against a good team. And we're excited.
“We want to show the best of ourselves and try and get a result. That's the plan. These are the games you want to play in. I’ve grown up watching some of these players and it's an exciting opportunity to play against them.
“I'm not going into the game scared, I'm excited, I'm happy to be here. It's where you want to be. You want to be playing in these big games against the big players and that's what motivates me.
“I think you take the learnings from all the games. I've obviously played a bit of European football two years ago and then been back in this situation again.
“It's where I want to be. I've had some really good memories in Europe so far already, so hopefully we can make some more.”
