The Steven Naismith Hearts reminder and Viktoria Plzen aim

The location of the Doosan Arena, a mere 10-minute walk from the city centre, is a writer's dream, offering perfect jumping-off points if a third consecutive poor result was to materialise.

Behind the stand that will house the near 700 away support is a climbing wall. 'Forget a climbing wall, Hearts have a mountain to climb in the second leg,' writes one.

Wander around the other side of the stadium and you will be able to see the popular Pilsner Urquell brewery, offering tours in Czech, German and English. 'Plzen offers the perfect place for fans to drown their sorrows after a night to forget in European competition', writes another.

Thankfully for the fatalistic football fan, managers and players don't think like that.

Steven Naismith certainly doesn't.

The message from the Hearts head coach was loud, clear and two-fold:

• We are a good team

• We are here to win 

Take the first of those points. Hearts have not become a bad team overnight, or more pertinently the last two games.

Yes, there are aspects of the last two games that have not gone well and have caused concern. But they had a successful season last season. They performed well and should have defeated Rangers in the opening game of the campaign.

"We consistently reference it," Naismith said of what the team achieved last season. "It's good to reference it, but we got our reward for that at the end of the season. We get the plaudits and we have the player of the year in the squad. We have a fair few players named as having really good seasons.

"It's now to better it, playing the bigger competitions. And we're one tie away. We need to reference that as well, that it's there for us. We need to work really hard, we need to play really well. But we can do it. And then the challenge beyond that becomes the group stage European football tied in with our domestic fixtures."

Naismith on squad rotation and team news

• "Like every game, we'll pick the team that we believe is the best for the game. I think at the weekend it was frustrating. Maybe the change of too many players does impact that. But like I said, it's small margins. If we score one or two goals in the first half, then the dynamic of the game changes. So we'll put out the team tomorrow that we think will get us a result. And then we'll do the same on Sunday and then next Thursday. But I think a lot of these games are small margins. And certain players will impact games better than others. And that's how we'll pick the team, like we always do."

• "Everybody that's travelled is fit. The only ones that aren't are Beni [Baningime] and Calem [Nieuwenhof]. And Andres [Salazar] hasn't got his documentation to travel, so he's not travelled."

If Hearts were to achieve the second of those points - winning in Plzen - the last five teams to win at the Doosan Arena in European competition would read: Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Heart of Midlothian.

That is the aim.

"The set-up is to try and come out with a win in the game," Naismith said. "That is what it is. But we do need to recognise that it's a two-legged tie. And this is a really good team we're coming up against.

"Their record of short-term in terms of this season is really good. They've not conceded many goals, they've scored a fair few. But their consistency in European competition tells you everything you need to know about them.

"So they can cause us problems, and that's why I say we need to defend better than we have been doing. But if we can have the energy and intensity in our work, then I believe we can cause some problems as well. And like I said, come out of the tie with the result that we want. So, yes, it's exciting. It's really exciting and we look forward to it."

Forget the Conference League, the lesser teams and the more chance of progress from the league phase. This Hearts team want to compete against the best they can. And that is in the Europa League.

Read more

• Viktoria Plzen wary of Tynecastle Park as manager pinpoints three Hearts stars

• The Viktoria Plzen lowdown from Czech football expert: What Hearts can expect

• Viktoria Plzen scouted: Key threat, where to exploit and how Hearts win

• Frankie Kent could feature for Hearts v Viktoria Plzen after training return

Doing so would add to the experience of this group, many of whom have featured across the past two seasons when the team have been in Europe, suffered the lows and enjoyed the highs.

"It would be a great achievement if we get in the Europa League," Naismith said. "I know you've got the group stage no matter what. But my mentality when I was a player, and I think the squad have got it as well, is we want to be as high as we can. We want to perform in the best tournaments we can. And we've got the chance to do that over this tie.

"There's a million reasons why Scottish teams haven't performed that well in the European competitions. It's been tougher over the years with the co-efficiency. But a big part of that, I think, is experience. I think we've not had enough experience as clubs, understanding what it's like to go, the demand of it. And also how to manage a tie.

"I think what we can draw on from last season is a Rosenberg tie. I think there's similarities in terms of the set-up of the stadium here and the feel of it compared to that tie. We managed to navigate our way through that with a few setbacks in terms of losing the first leg, losing an early goal in the second leg. But we didn't panic. We stuck to what we believed would work. And it did.

"We're here a year later in a similar situation. We've got to draw upon that, have that bit more experience, and ultimately get through the tie, which I believe we can do. We'll need to defend better than we have done in the last two games. But we're a good team. We're coming up against a good team. So I think it'll be an entertaining game of football."