It's half time at the Doosan Arena in the Europa League play-off round first leg.

Heart of Midlothian have delivered a first-half performance they could be happy with. Having started positively they then had to dig in and stand up to a period of Viktoria Plzen pressure. On another day they could even have been ahead through one of Lawrence Shankland's late chances before the break.

While the team were catching a breather and the management team issuing instructions and encouragement, Frankie Kent was reaching for the energy gels. Fuel for the second half of a high-pressure game against good opposition.

The presence of the centre-back in the middle of the Hearts defence was a huge boost for the team after he had missed some training sessions and the Premier Sports Cup loss to Falkirk with a toe injury that had then got infected.

“I’m all right," Kent said in the Viktoria Plzen press room afterward. "I'm not going to lie, I was blowing a little bit. 

“I think obviously with my little niggle last week with my toe and that, I didn't train really.  But I got back out there and had a few energy gels at half-time to get me through.

"Once I get back into the swing of everything in terms of game after game after game, I'm fine. But I think it was just difficult with the little niggle last week, not really training for a week, and then going into that game. 

“The first half was really high tempo with how they were attacking. Obviously, it's new for me as well in terms of coming to a team like this and playing this level of player and team and getting used to how they want to play.

"I think probably the last 10 or 15 minutes of the first half you see that we were growing into the game and we had a few chances. I feel like we took that into the second half. I feel like in the second half we had a few chances as well.”

Hearts had been moments away from recording a hugely respectable draw to take back to Tynecastle Park on Thursday, the same as Fiorentina managed last season in the Conference League quarter-final.

It wasn't to be. Daniel Oyegoke's unfortunate own goal left the team "gutted". Kent said he "couldn't be prouder of the performance" and that was reflected in the reception the team received by the small but noisy travelling support tucked into the corner of the Doosan Arena.

As the Hearts support made their way to the exit to return to the city centre and enjoy very, very reasonably priced lager, the Plzen home crowd remained behind as the team celebrated long after the full-time whistle.

The feeling from Plzen seemed to be that they had been given a tough game and that goal was huge for them ahead of a trip to Edinburgh.

“I mean, you could probably see it from the stands," Kent said.

“Obviously, we had to defend at times and it was hard and we had to work really hard to make sure that we stayed in the game and done what we'd done. But the sickening thing is probably that it felt good and it felt comfortable.

“We spoke in there and the boys enjoyed that game, enjoyed the performance, enjoyed having to work really hard for each other and we did that for all of it. 

“I know it's a very cliche and traditional thing to say but that is the case at the minute. We just need to keep working hard and it'll come."

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Before the return leg, Hearts head to Motherwell for a match which is currently more important in the grand scheme of things. Win at Fir Park and the mood music changes heading into a big night under the floodlights at Tynecastle Park. Fail to win and the, for want of a better phrase, negative momentum continues to gather pace.

“It's about just making sure we go into the game right and get back in the right direction and just keep working because it's difficult being in these situations," Kent said. “We had it a little bit probably sticky at the start of the last season but we know there's more than enough in that changing room. 

“I think you saw on Thursday where the performance is obviously set up in a different way to obviously play over the two legs. 

“On a one-off game we're fine and we'll just take it into Sunday. Take the positives, stay confident, know what we've got in the changing room, know what we've got as a team and keep working."

It is, however, hard not to just sneak a glance at Thursday in Gorgie and think back 12 months to the Rosenborg game. 

"We were in that position last year," Kent said. "So, we know what we've got. We know that crowd will be behind us and especially at Tynecastle. It can all change and it can be brilliant. So, things to look forward to. 

“It's a cliche thing to say but it is really and truly on a knife edge.”