Hearts explain why two players have been left out of their European squad and the threats PAOK Salonika pose

Edinburgh club preparing for a huge night at Tynecastle

Hearts have left midfielders Jorge Grant and Peter Haring out of their European squad to face PAOK Salonika. The players have not been included in the 25-man group registered with UEFA for the Europa Conference League play-off against the Greek club.

Ahead of Thursday’s first leg at Tynecastle Park, Hearts head coach Frankie McAvoy explained the reasons behind the decisions. “We have a squad to pick from and Jorge has been unfortunate but that is competition. It’s great to have that where it's really tough so Jorge is one who has lost out.

“Peter is injured and won't make either leg. It's been tough decisions and hopefully we have got them right.”

McAvoy insisted that Grant’s omission does not necessarily signal an imminent Hearts exit for the Englishman. “No, at the end of the day he is still part of the squad, we've told him that,” he stated. “We've just got to make our decisions in terms of legal requirements you have got.

“We've done that, we've sat as a group and worked through it. It's about balancing what you’ve got. Unfortunately, Jorge is one we have had to exclude from the squad.”

Haring’s injury is slowly healing. “He's not too bad. He's not far away. It's a gamble you don't want to take,” added McAvoy. Recent signings Kenneth Vargas, Kyosuke Tagawa and Calem Nieuwenhof have been registered.

PAOK opened their Greek Super League campaign with a 3-0 victory Asteras Tripolis on Sunday. They want a result in Edinburgh to take back to Thessaloniki for next week’s return leg. “It's another tough tie,” said McAvoy following last week’s 3-1 Conference League third qualifying round win over Rosenborg.

Hearts trained at Riccarton on Wednesday morning before Thursday's tie against PAOK Salonika. Pic: SNS

“I don't think many people would have picked us to go through against Rosenborg over two legs. It's a similar type of tie. PAOK are a good team, very good at home, we need to take the initiative. It's two semi-finals or two finals. Whatever way you want to cut the cake. PAOK press you high with threats in wide areas and threats from the No.10 and No.9.”

Hearts will seek to garner any kind of lead to take to the hostile Toumba Stadium. “That would be ideal. The most important thing is making sure we are in the game,” said McAvoy. “It would be great if we go with an advantage. That's what our aim will be, but we also need patience again. You don't want to go gung-ho and get caught in transition because that's probably a big strength of theirs.

“I think the crowd will play a big part tomorrow. Even when we went a goal down early against Rosenborg, the support was fantastic and drove us on. Players love that. They get a real kick from it. That will be important tomorrow. I thought the noise levels last week were incredible. I'm maybe a bit biased but I felt it was magnificent. That was a real driving factor in us getting the win.”

After falling 1-0 behind to Rosenborg, recovering to win 3-1 and progressing on a 4-3 aggregate, Hearts may need to produce an even better display to beat PAOK. “There's no doubt we need to go up a level again,” said McAvoy. “I believe we are capable of doing that.”