Head coach Neil Critchley has urged Hearts to kick their campaign into life by defeating Moldovan side Petrocub on Thursday to secure European football beyond Christmas for the first time in 35 years.

The Edinburgh side were heavily criticised by their fans after slipping back to the foot of the Premiership with a 1-0 defeat away to 10-man Kilmarnock on Sunday.

But Critchley believes qualification for the knockout phase play-off round of the Conference League would serve as a much-needed boost in their quest to improve their poor league season.

A victory over Petrocub would ensure Hearts finish in the top 24 of the 36-team league and continue their European adventure until February at least, while a draw may be enough depending on other results.

“Obviously, we have the opportunity to progress in a European competition,” said Critchley.

“And if we do that, then we can put that to rest for a few months and look to then improve our domestic form, because we’ve got a really important period coming up with lots of games in a short period of time.

“I said to the players when we got back together after the game against Kilmarnock at the weekend, ‘how often do you get opportunities like this in your career?’.

“It goes by in a flash and you can’t miss these opportunities.”

Petrocub are second bottom of the Conference League table and one of only two teams to have officially been eliminated already after taking just one point from their opening five matches.

“You can obviously look at their position and look at the points that they’ve got and underestimate them,” said Critchley.

“We certainly won’t be doing that. There are no gimmes in European football. They’re there for a reason. And if you look at their recent results, they’ve been very tight games.

“They’re tough to play against. They’re not easy to break down. They’re well coached and they like to have the ball. They like to play as well.

“We’re not underestimating them at all. We have to make sure our cause is greater than theirs.”