Liam Fox insists he can deliver on the Euro stage for Hearts after making the giant leap from Lowland League to Conference League in just 10 days.
The caretaker boss will be in charge as the Jambos – winless in 10 games this season – get their campaign off and running against Dinamo Minsk in neutral Azerbaijan on Thursday night. The game will be played behind closed doors due to UEFA’s sanctions on Belarussian clubs for their country’s involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war. And Fox has no doubt his players are good enough to deliver that elusive victory for the Jambos who have been locked out.
The 40-year-old was in charge of the Hearts B team in the Lowland League before stepping up as interim boss after Steven Naismith’s sacking ahead of Saturday’s draw with Ross County. And he said: “It’s a fair jump. But as I’ve said, I’m just really enjoying this experience. It’s a privilege to be here.
“We’ll do everything we can to be ready for a tough opponent. But I’ve got belief in the group. We’ve seen on Saturday moments that we’re hopefully taking a wee step. The players worked so hard to get to this opportunity, to get to this level, they had a brilliant season last year.
“We’re going to enjoy this, but the best way of enjoying it is putting on a performance. You put on a performance, you get your best chance of taking three points. Are we going to miss the supporters? Absolutely. Because of what they bring in, the energy they bring in. They’re a big, big miss to us, we’re aware of that. It’s a situation, and it’s just another challenge for us to overcome.
“We’re conscious that will be loads of Hearts supporters in pubs and homes, back at home. Like I say, we can never promise that we’re going to win, but we’ll do everything we can to try and get that win.”
The champions of Belarus have only lost one of their 20 league games but, as a pot six side, are the weakest of the six clubs Hearts will face in the league phase of the competition. Fox said: “They’re a good side. They’re in really good form. They’ve got some really good individual players, they’ve got some good speed, they’ve got some good size.
“Any game, any opponent at this level is going to have some really good players. It’ll be no easy game. But I repeat, it’s about what we do. It’s about how we set up and that’s why my focus is on us rather than the opponent.”
Hearts will again be without injured duo Caleb Nieuwenhof and Gerald Taylor but have no fresh injury worries. And Fox said: “Everybody is fit and healthy so I have some selection headaches, which is good. We’ll see where we are tomorrow night and see what team we put out.
“It’s a big squad. There’s a lot of talent. There’s a lot of quality. Action and applications have been good. Training sessions have been good they’re giving me decisions to make, which is good. We feel like we took a wee step on Saturday. We’ve got a really difficult opponent now so we’ve got to be respectful of that, but it’s an opportunity to build on what we did on Saturday.”