Heidenheim head coach Frank Schmidt revealed he is "really excited" to face Heart of Midlothian - and he expects to come up against a team who play with a lot of purpose.

Both sides come into the Conference League fixture having won their opening two games in the league phase. 

A draw would all but secure progression to the knockout stage for both clubs while a win for either side would push them toward being one of the top eight places and progression straight into the last-16.

Schmidt is looking forward to the experience of facing a Scottish team and Tynecastle, expecting the "smaller actions like throw-ins" to be "celebrated like goals".


"From the first minute, I expect to see the emotion on the pitch and togetherness between the team and fans," Schmidt said of the Tynecastle Park crowd. "We will have to get going very quickly, we don't have any time to develop our play, we have to be ready from the first minute. I'm really excited. I love the emotion from the fans and people in the game.

"You can observe change since the new coach took over. They have a clear plan and play with a lot of power. The players are ready to make a difference. They play with purpose in attack. If I was to imagine how a Scottish team play it would be like this with a lot of pressing and direct play. They have individuals who have produced moments with their creativity. Their recent form is quite good and it will be a tough task for both teams, I hope."

The match presents the latest moment in the club's history which allows those who have been there a long time, like Schmidt, who has been head coach since 2007, to take stock of "an incredible journey".

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"It goes all the way back to lower leagues where I started as a player," he said. "I had a beer after every game - and even after training! I took over as coach in the fifth division. If someone told me that, 17 years later, we would be in the UEFA Conference League, we would have needed to do some sort of mental examination.

"I'm not really thinking about how incredible it all is. It's more that we deserve to be where we are. We are always striving to improve. Although we come from a small place in Germany and we don't have a huge history in professional German football, we still deserve to be where we are.

"It's exciting for me. Alex, our team manager, started with me together [as players] in the sixth division. Now we are sitting here ready to play against Heart of Midlothian. It's unbelievable."

Such are the demands when you become a top-tier side, Schmidt has faced queries around rotation as Heidenheim juggle three competitions following a recent run of poor form. He believes he has the depth at his disposal to be a success in Europe and the Bundesliga after being dumped out of the German Cup by second-tier Hertha Berlin.

"This is a week where we have many games and we have only had one of these so far," he said. "There will be more to come this season. We have a clear plan and a big squad I'm happy with so we can share the load among the players.

"It would be nice to play the same team in every game, but we have the same 11 across midweek games then the same 11 for the Bundesliga at the weekend. This wasn't talked about a couple of weeks ago but we have had a couple of bad results now and it's time to turn this around."

Amongst Heidenheim's squad is Adrian Beck, who spent a period on loan at Hamilton Accies earlier in his career, playing under Brian Rice.

"Football-wise, it wasn't the best time for me," he said of that time. 

"I may not have been along this whole journey with Frank Schmidt and the team, but if somebody told me I would be here in a Conference League press conference, I would have been incredibly shocked. I am excited.

"Scottish football is intense. I remember how it was, the influence of the fans is huge when every single action is celebrated like a goal. It's different to German stadiums. Scottish fans get behind their team at every moment and it can be intimidating."