Captain Lawrence Shankland is a doubt as Hearts attempt to overcome a one-goal deficit at home to Viktoria Plzen to earn a place in the Europa League
The Scotland striker played the full game away to Motherwell on Sunday, but head coach Steven Naismith revealed the 29-year-old has “an ache in his knee
Hearts succumbed to a stoppage-time goal in the Czech Republic when Daniel Oyegoke diverted a cross into his own net
“The reward is massive,” said Naismith. “It’s very rarely done outside the Old Firm and we have a great opportunity
“Last week, we carried a threat and defended really well until the last action of the game, so it’s within our grasp.”
The losing side drops into the third-tier Conference League
At the moment, we’re conceding cheaper goals than we have in the past,” Naismith said of domestic form
“We went 41 games without conceding from a wide free-kick, then concede two in the one game (at Fir Park)
