New Hearts captain confirmed along with four vice-captains ahead of Champions League tie against Sturm Graz

Hearts confirmed their new club captain ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League qualifying tie in Graz. Head coach Wouter Vrancken revealed that centre-back Craig Halkett will take the armband officially, although left-back Harry Milne will lead the team out against Sturm Graz in the Liebenauer Stadium.

Halkett is out injured until next year after rupturing an Achilles tendon in May, so Vrancken has put a plan in place which includes a list of four vice-captains. Full-back Stephen Kingsley is to be Halkett’s immediate deputy, followed by Milne, fellow defender Jamie McCart and then midfielder Blair Spittal.

The confirmation suggests Milne will start at left-back against Sturm as Hearts play their first competitive match under Vrancken. The first leg of the Champions League second qualifying round pits them against the Austrian Bundesliga runners-up, who have played league-stage European football in each of the last four seasons.

The captaincy became available at Tynecastle following Lawrence Shankland’s departure to Rangers and Craig Gordon’s subsequent retirement. Vrancken has taken time to assess his squad following his appointment in place of Derek McInnes last month. He wants Halkett, once fit, to lead the team. In the meantime, Kingsley and Milne will deputise.

“It will be Harry tomorrow, but I can also say that I've already spoken with the players,” explained the Belgian. “The club captain is Craig. Then it's Kingsley, then Harry, then Jamie, and then Spittal. That's the order, so now you know.”

Vrancken made one change to Hearts’ Champions League squad to face Sturm earlier today when he replaced Ugandan winger Rogers Mato with French forward Amadou Ba-Sy. That was prompted by Ba-Sy’s two goals in Friday’s 2-1 friendly win against Spanish side Rayo Vallecano. “I don't think an explanation is really necessary,” smiled Vrancken.

“When you saw him in the Rayo game, I think when you play your first 45 minutes after a few weeks of training and have that much impact, it would have been a mistake on my side to leave Amadou out.” Asked if the former Rouen player is ready to play from the start in Austria, Vrancken remained coy. “It depends. When he starts, he's now at 45 minutes and it worked pretty well, actually. We'll see tomorrow how many minutes we give him.”

With Ba-Sy now added to an attacking posse that includes Claudio Braga, Landy Kabore, Amadou Ba-Sy, James Wilson, Alexandros Kyziridis, Calvin Miller and Sabah Kerjota, Vrancken is spoiled for choice. “I'm happy about it. There are still a few good attacking players at home because we had to make decisions,” he said, alluding to the absence of Mato, Belgian striker Elton Kabangu and winger Josh McPake.

“Also, Amadou and Josh played a really good game [on Friday]. Josh, particularly, had his best game so far. So we have quality there. It's for them to show it tomorrow. It's good for me as a manager that we have the possibility to make changes because, again, when you go at full intensity from the first second, you have to have options during the game.”

Hearts know they will face Fenerbahce or Gornik Zabrze in the next round of the Champions League should they overcome Sturm. Defeat would see them drop into the Europa League third qualifying round, where they would face the winner of St Gallen v Benfica.

“I think it's very important that you show guts from the start and don't think about other qualifiers or the next round. Just stay in the moment, go full out and give everything on the pitch,” stressed Vrancken. “Because when you start thinking too much about the next round, you lose your focus a little bit. I think it's most important to give it everything on the pitch now and give our best. Then we'll see what we get. I'm convinced that when we give it everything, we have a good chance.”

Reaching the Champions League third qualifying round would guarantee Hearts a place in the league stage of the Europa League as a minimum. “This means a lot. I think every player dreams of playing in the Champions League, but also in Europe generally,” acknowledged Vrancken. “If you can qualify already and know you're guaranteed European games until the winter or into next year, it would be great.”

More than 1,300 Hearts fans will be inside the Liebenauer Stadium to watch the Edinburgh side. “I don't think I need to give them a message,” smiled Vrancken. “When you saw them react in the friendly against Rayo, you could feel the synergy that you can create when you perform well on the pitch and the fans really get behind the team.

“We have to do the same tomorrow. We have to be there from the first minute, showing that we want to fight for our colours. The fans will be behind us. It's just incredible and amazing to see how many people have come here to support us.”