Viktoria Plzen manager Miroslav Koubek is wary of the Tynecastle Park atmosphere in the second leg of the Europa League play-off tie against Heart of Midlothian as he picked out the players his side will have to be wary of.

The Czechs come into the match in much better form than their opponents having won six of their first seven games of the season, drawing the other. Hearts have yet to win any of their first three fixtures, the latest of which was a 2-0 loss to Championship side Falkirk in the Premier Sports Cup.

Plzen made six changes at the weekend with Thursday's match in mind and Koubek revealed he is optimistic going into the fixture, noting a strong home result will help when they travel to Edinburgh in a week's time.

"You know me, I'm always trying to be optimistic," he said. "We start 50-50. In the fourth round you cannot meet any weak opponents, especially in view of the second match because my players are not used to the kind of atmosphere we can expect. I will try to remain optimistic.

"The Hearts team has technical players too. It's not about changing tactics. We will play our game because we are used to it. Our goal is to get a good result to give us a chance for the second leg in Edinburgh."

It was a feeling backed up by Pavel Sulc. The 23-year-old finished as the team's top scorer last season and is a key part of their attacking output.

"Yes, it will be good if we play the first match very good because we know what we can expect in the second match.

"In Edinburgh, we can expect a tough game with a great atmosphere so it will be great to get a good result for the second match."

Plzen were impressed with Hearts' performance in their Scottish Premiership opener against Rangers. And they believe they will face a team of a higher standard than TNS. The Welsh side took them to penalties over two legs in a Conference League third round qualifier in 2021.

Read more

"We can expect that Hearts will be of a higher level," Sulc said. "What we can expect for sure is a match that will go back and forth. We watched the game with Rangers where there was a lot of running back and forth and we can expect this."

He added: "As the coach said, it will be a European intensity and style. A lot of tackles and duels so we must deal with this style. It will be a tough game."

Manager Koubek was reluctant to name the players who he feels are the biggest threat to his Plzen side but did pick out three of Steven Naismith's squad. As well as outlining the strengths of Hearts.

"Hearts are very good at quick counter-attacks," he said. "Of course, typically, they are good in the air in both boxes with headers and so on. 

"It's difficult to highlight one or two who are better because it's high European standard. I would definitely highlight the No.9, [Lawrence] Shankland, and the No.20, [Yan] Dhanda. [Kenneth] Vargas is also good. The centre-midfielders are good and the wing-backs, but I wouldn't like to highlight any one player because the team plays as a team and I'm sure we can expect a tough game."

Meanwhile, Plzen will be boosted by the return of goalkeeper Martin Jedlicka. He was the star of the team's Conference League quarter-final against Fiorentina. Jan Paluska and Matej Valenta could also be considered.