Heidenheim seek to avoid crisis at Hearts as veteran urges against spiral after loss in 'relegation battle'

A Heidenheim veteran has said they don’t expect anything for free against Hearts - as they look to avoid crisis.

Heidenheim are in the Conference League after an eighth-place finish in the Bundesliga, and will pose a big test for Neil Critchley’s side on matchday three this Thursday. Hearts have won their opening two games against Dinamo Minsk and Omonia Nicosia in this league phase.

This season, Heidenheim are in a difficult moment, sitting 12th in the table, with one win in eight domestic matches. That includes an exit from the DFB Pokal as they hover two points above the relegation play-off spot.

They have opened their account in the Conference, however, with two wins versus Olimpija Ljublijana and Pafos. Speaking ahead of a trip to Edinburgh after losing 1-0 to second-bottom Holstein Kiel at the weekend, veteran keeper Kevin Muller admits Heidenheim have to escape thoughts of an escalating spiral that could result in poorer results.

He told club media: “We now have to make sure that we don't get into a negative spiral where we say that everything is going against us and that everything is so difficult. Instead, we have to work hard during the week because it wasn't a matter of commitment and passion, definitely not.

“That's why we have to do everything we can to push things in our direction. We now have the chance on Thursday in another competition to possibly get that push for the league. We know that nobody is going to give us anything for free, neither the referee nor the opponents.

“That's why we have to take matters into our own hands again and not rely on others because they certainly won't help us. But I have full confidence in our team that we can do it. It's a difficult phase at the moment, to be honest, but we will work our way out of it."

Captain Patrick Mainka acknowledges they lost an important game, with the word ‘relegation’ rolled out already in analysis of defeat. He added: "In the end, it was a very important game that we lost. It was a relegation battle, that has to be said quite clearly.

“A direct competitor. So it was a sign of the future. We didn't use the chance to put a big gap between us and Kiel and so the defeat hurts a lot. Nevertheless, it's not like anything has been decided yet. It was a huge chance today that we didn't use and now we have to make sure we get the points elsewhere.

“We threw everything into it to push the game in our direction, but in the end it wasn't enough. We knew what was coming. A game like this is decided by little things. A standard situation, a moment of inattention and then the goal conceded. We would have wanted it to be different.

“Then at some point in the second half, when we want to build up a lot of pressure, they try to sit back and we didn't manage to get clear shots on goal. It could have gone the other way if we had perhaps looked for scoring opportunities or shots on goal with a certain degree of consistency. We didn't manage that today and we need to work on that."