Tomorrow is for our fans

The manager underlined the role fans have played in taking our club from the brink of extinction to the cusp of European glory. Tomorrow night sees the Jam Tarts take the final steps on a path that will deliver group stage football in the Europa League or the Conference League.
 
“This is probably the biggest driver for everyone at the club right now. Playing staff, coaching staff, office staff. Our fans deserve this more than anyone; they put their hands in their pockets and saved the club,” he told the press in his pre-match media conference.
 
“Administration, demotion, promotion, European football. I hope we can do it for them and get them even more exciting trips like Switzerland because they’ve absolutely earned it.”
 
After a nail-biting first leg encounter which saw the Swiss claim a narrow 2-1 win in St. Gallen, the boss hoped an explosive atmosphere in Gorgie could help swing things with the tie so firmly poised.
 
“We have to use it to our advantage, especially because away goals don’t count anymore,” he explained. “It’s a straight shoot-out now and we have to try and take the game to them. With 20,000 fans here, they want to see us go out and perform.
 
“It’s probably the biggest game we’ve had at Tynecastle. We’ve obviously played at the national stadium in the cup but as a European game and experience – it’s massive for us. We’ve got an opportunity to get into the group stages of the Europa League.
 
“We’ve done alright in the start of the season. There are certain periods of games where we didn’t do well enough but we’re in a good place at the moment. We know that tomorrow night is going to be very tough.
 
“The Swiss champions, who played very well against us in the first leg. The confidence is good, we’re looking forward to it.”

You can catch the manager's press conference in full on Hearts TV.