It is not long now until Heart of Midlothian begin their European campaign. The two-legged Europa League play-off round tie with Viktoria Plzen will shed plenty of light on what the campaign will be like for the Tynecastle Park side.

Win and they progress to eight games in the Europa League. Lose and it will be the league phase of the Conference League.

We have found out how Hearts can beat Viktoria Plzen via Tom Irving's scout report. But what about Viktoria Plzen as a club? Hearts Standard spoke to Czech football expert Tomas, the man behind @czechfooty on X.

Firstly, can you tell us a wee bit about Viktoria Plzen as a club?

The two clubs that are mostly known in Europe are the two Prague clubs. So Plzen hailing from not really even close to the biggest city in the country, they are a bit of an underdog but, of course, in the spring they sprung a surprise in Europe, earning their first European quarter-final in the Conference League and earning so many clean sheets on the way. So a very sturdy side. Fairly active off the ball, a very annoying kind of side to face.

You could be surprised to hear that actually they have quite a pedigree both domestically – very successful, many titles won in the 2010s – and also even making Champions League proper on, I think, two occasions. So they are actually quite experienced as a whole as a club on the continental scene, with maybe one or two surviving members from those very successful teams, some of them are on the coaching staff now as well. There's experience all across.

What can Hearts fans expect from them in terms of style?

They definitely will play in a back three and have quite expansive wide centre-backs. A very good, no-nonsense centre-back in the middle of the back three. He was actually one of the rising stars of the last season: Robin Hranac who started in the Euros as well as a newcomer to the senior national team and is now being lured by Italian clubs. He may not stay past this European tie, but I am pretty sure Hearts are going to face him both tomorrow and in the return leg, probably.

The defence is definitely their pride. But, at the same time, they have very good wing-backs to support with crosses but also combination play. So they have a lot of variability to their attack and a very hard-working striker [Daniel Vasulin], even though he's not really quite at the level yet. He just arrived in the summer because they lost basically their main focal point up front. That's something they're still getting used to early on.

But they are still unbeaten domestically and earned very overwhelming victories in the last two league games. So they will definitely be confident going into this tie.

Aside from the defence, who should Hearts be aware of?

[Jiri] Panos being 16 years old, he's something of an outside bet, even though he has started in Europe already. He's definitely one to watch.

Along with [Pavel] Sulc, he was really the breakout star of last season as well, breaking very late into the national team to star at the Euros, or at least start against Portugal in the opener. He's a very hard-working and opportunistic attacking midfielder, almost acting as a second striker, closing down the box, so he's not necessarily the creative No 10 that we don't really produce in Czech football generally. He picks his spots very wisely and can sweep it up, so he's definitely one to watch and to guard. He's probably their most well-known weapon at this point.

And of course, look out for Lukas Kalvach also. No 23 in midfield who is basically their lynchpin, their midfield maestro and he has a very good set-piece delivery, guys! Plzen have for a long time had one of the strongest, if not the strongest set-pieces in the domestic league. It's probably not going to be any different this campaign.

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What are Plzen's weaknesses? Where can Hearts exploit?

There is a bit of a question mark – they are definitely suffering from some terrible injury luck in recent weeks which I think Hearts could definitely exploit because those players who are on the sidelines right now would otherwise definitely start.

We can start with Christophe Kabongo who was the star of pre-season and the first round, then he got a very serious knee injury. He is probably out for the season. Rafiu Durosinmi was a very huge breakout star of last season but then he also damaged his knee and had two surgeries without returning to action. They would be the focal points in attack and they are unavailable.

At the same time, you have a left-wing-back, one of the breakout stars of the spring, Cheick Souare, who was supposed to just have a little bruise suffered in pre-season, but he hasn't played yet. It's already seven games and counting of this mysterious absence.

And then also, their No 1 goalkeeper [Martin Jedlicka], and definitely the hero of the spring run in the Conference League, who just frustrated Fiorentina especially. He was also out for the last two or three games and he might be returning now. But if he can't return then a very inexperienced, and probably not at this level, Slovak Marian Tvrdon will deputise.

I guess, these are some of the weaknesses, injury-related ones, to potentially exploit. It's a good time to be facing Plzen in a way.

What can you tell us about manager Miroslav Koubek?

He's an interesting one because he's by far the oldest coach in the Czech top flight, but at the same time he's actually one of the progressive ones because he's very much focused on data

As I mentioned, his football style is kind of pragmatic, in Europe especially, but domestically they are actually very daring. They are on to you straight away after losing the ball - geggenpressing aspects are also present in their football. It can be very watchable, their football, and he's actually considered one of the brightest minds, keeping up with the trends even though he's already past his 70th birthday.

At the same time, what's interesting is that he's notoriously bad in his sophomore seasons. Usually he performs very well, or his teams perform very well, in his first season, which was the last one for Plzen when he had those two memorable cup runs, domestically [and in Europe]. But in the second season, he usually gets fired very quickly.

It doesn't look like it right now, but I think it's already [happened] at four clubs before Plzen. Including Plzen, because this is already his second stint at the club. He always was gone within 10 or 12 rounds into his sophomore season. So it's something to look out for, but I am pretty sure that Hearts are going to face him in both games.

The Doosan ArenaThe Doosan Arena (Image: Hearts Standard)

What can Hearts fans expect from the Doosan Arena?

[The fans] tend to fill out the arena for European games, but even domestically are one of the consistently attended clubs. We definitely struggle in the Czech top flight, plenty of clubs are barely filling out maybe even half of the stadium. But Plzen have been consistent and definitely have a passionate fanbase. They even have a very good hockey club, ice hockey being one of the two national sports, kind of.

[Plzen] are definitely accustomed to having these successful sports clubs to support. I'm sure it's going to be a great atmosphere, it usually is for European games.

What are your expectation for Plzen?

For Plzen, they would definitely like to mount a bit more of a title challenge than last year. Of course, those cup runs were very much in contrast to their domestic campaign where they were out of it by December. Entering Christmas, they were 18 points behind the league leaders. That also contributed to them focusing on the continental run and the domestic cup instead of the league.

I think now they would definitely like or fancy more of a balanced season on all fronts, including the league. At the same time, they also definitely want to go up a level and go to the Europa League after their Conference League adventure last season. They are definitely an ambitious side, even though the Prague clubs are far bigger in terms of salaries paid and even squad depth, that sort of stuff.

The coach was actually very vocal in pre-season, saying, 'No, we want a title, we are not happy just to be a top-three club' which they are pretty much sure to be. They are still ambitious and I think Hearts are going to feel it on Thursday.

What is your prediction?

I would suggest they must be slight favourites, even though I can't claim to have any knowledge about Hearts. They will feel confident. As I mentioned, they basically kept the band together from the memorable European campaign. As of now, even though some players may leave after these two matches. They must be something of a slight favourite, but I wouldn't expect many goals on Thursday. Maybe a 1-0 or maybe 1-1. Something like that.