Cercle Brugge coach gives his thoughts on Hearts, Neil Critchley, Kilmarnock and Peter Haring

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The Belgians face Scottish opponents again on Thursday evening

Cercle Brugge coach Miron Muslic spoke warmly of Hearts ahead of Thursday’s UEFA Conference League tie, but warned that his players will be up for a fight. The crowd inside the Jan Breydel Stadium is expected to be less than a third of its 29,000 capacity and Muslic knows the visitors are bringing more than 3,000 supporters.

After a run of seven defeats in their last 15 games, Cercle are in the relegation zone in their league and have suffered some similar difficulties to Hearts this season. They beat Kilmarnock in the Europa League qualifying rounds and now face a second Scottish side. Muslic believes the two are very different and that Hearts have improved since appointed Neil Critchely head coach last month.

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“Actually very different, especially since head coach Critchley took over,” said the Austrian. “I think, first of all, they are very well-coached, clear patterns, possession-based, a lot of possession for a Scottish team to be fair, a lot of good things on the ball. They feel very comfortable with the ball. Kilmarnock was way more physical, way more direct, with long balls picking up the second. I think also this is in the repertoire of Hearts, but still with the capacity and the quality to build up, to prepare the attack, to progress the game from the defence to the midfield

“They are looking then for Shankland as a clear target player, a clear No.9. I think this guy also scored a lot of goals over the last two seasons for Hearts. So this is for me a very well-coached team first of all, especially since my colleague Neil took over. Very attractive, very offensive minded and not really comparable with Kilmarnock.

“Still what they do have in common is that it's a Scottish team. They will go fully, they will be intense, they will be physical, they will give it all. And very similar also, we had this experience with Kilmarnock. I think around 3,000 supporters will come here to cheer and to support.

“We had this beautiful experience with Kilmarnock. Then a game like tomorrow night just becomes a feast with a good atmosphere. And this is something we experienced already and we learned our lessons versus Kilmarnock, especially due to the physicality, due to the long balls, due to the set-pieces. This is also a threat of Hearts, but with a lot of solutions with the ball.

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“We define ourselves as an out-of-possession team, structured in our pressing, out of possession, against the ball. So I think if we can do some things right tomorrow, we will have also some opportunities to catch them in this style of play.”

Muslic considers Hearts to be better than their current league position of 11th. “Yes, 100 per cent. I am not blinded by the league position. And currently it looks very, very tricky, very similar to us. I think we have more quality than Jubilee Pro League position, our position number 14.

“Hearts has for sure more quality than position, I think, 11 right now. So this is also something we have in common. It's not easy performing every three days for now almost six months. So it's difficult to find the balance and the rhythm, especially if we, Cercle, face this as a whole organization the first time in our history. We are still getting closer to find the rhythm, to find the balance, Hearts also. And by the way, this is a team who took already six points in a European group stage. So there will be nothing easy for tomorrow, but we also won't make it easy for them.”

Cercle have four points from their three Conference League ties so far. Muslic is confident he has the players to take that tally to seven on Thursday. “Yes, 100 per cent. This is the goal because we are playing this beautiful game, first of all, to win. We want to enjoy this international adventure. I think we're also in a good position with four points. If we can manage to have a good performance tomorrow night and reward ourselves with points, we are in a very comfortable position also in the conference league.

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“We need to find our limits tomorrow physically, technically and tactically. And then if this is possible, I think we have all the weapons, the tools and the possibilities to go after Hearts and to play for the three points, knowing that this team is also here to perform. I don't think they will let the 3,000 supporters over there just come here to see nothing. They have the obligation also to go all in, to go fully. And we are also prepared for that. We will also pick up the fight.”

Muslic coached the former Hearts midfielder Peter Haring during his time as assistant at the Austrian club SV Ried. “Of course, I know him back from Austria. I had him there,” he smiled. “The last time I spoke with Peter, it was six or seven years ago. We played in the second division in Austria and I was assistant coach. And he was also back there - big guy, strong guy, very dangerous in set-pieces with a big heart. So actually he fit perfectly in to the Scottish competition and to the Hearts.”

Suspension and injuries have precluded a number of Cercle Brugge players from this tie. Top goalscorer Kevin Denkey is banned after a red card in the previous Conference League match against LASK Linz. “I think [Abdul] Kader Ouattara and Bruninho are still out. They will be out throughout this year, so they will not return in the next couple of weeks. Erick [Nunes] and Emmanuel [Kakou], the players we used to use in the Jupiler Pro League, are not selectable for the Conference League.

“So we're going to miss six or seven guys tomorrow, but we're still going to have a very competitive team and we're going to try to perform as best as possible. Christian [Ravych] did everything since Sunday. He's selectable for us and I will keep it open if I start with Christian or I save him for Sunday.

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“Kevin is not there, so we have to come up with some different solutions. We cannot replace Kevin one-on-one. It's just simply impossible because you just can't replace a guy who scored just 30 goals over the last season. But we have to share this goal threat responsibility on several other players’ shoulders.

“It's not about replacing Kevin, but I think we have some profiles that can step in together. And we need for that two or three guys who can be very dangerous. If they work out fine together, if they can find each other with nice combinations, with some open movements, we can also actually be very dangerous without Kevin. So it's not about replacing Kevin, we can't, but still there are some other options for us, and we can also take advantage out of this. It's just a nice moment also for the players to step up and to get a little bit closer. So why not?”

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