Wouter Vrancken opens up on where Hearts are and has mixed news on injury front

The outcome was unsurprising, considering the hosts faced the task of clawing back a four-goal deficit against Sturm Graz. In the end, the aggregate margin of defeat increased by two goals on a sodden night in Gorgie as Hearts suffered their first home defeat since April 2025, when Dundee won 1-0 in Neil Critchley’s last match in charge.

They now enter the third qualifying round of the Europa League, where they will play either Benfica or St. Gallen. First they travel to Aberdeen for this weekend’s league opener.

Hearts could be without both Alexandros Kyziridis and skipper Stephen Kingsley, who were substituted against the Austrians after suffering injuries. The latter’s problem looked the most concerning – it seemed to be hamstring related – given his recent fitness struggles. “I think Kyziridis was cramp,” said Vrancken later. “With ‘Kings’, we have to see, because he has the history, so we have to be careful with this.”

Although the manager stressed on the eve of the second leg that they needed a perfect performance, Hearts produced a display resembling last week’s showing in Austria. Although they enjoyed a lot of the ball they lacked the sharpness and quality to hurt the visitors, who scored twice in four second-half minutes to confirm their progression to the Champions League third qualifying round.

“I think it's two times a bit the same,” said Vrancken, with reference to last week as well as this week. “First half hour in both games were actually good. But then you see the physical part and you see maybe also the difference between six weeks of preparation and three weeks of preparation. You cannot hide it, especially not on this level. Until then, it was good. The first half, for example, it was good and maybe sharpness in front of goal was missing.”

Goals – or lack of them – already look to be a problem for Hearts following the departure of top scorer Lawrence Shankland to Rangers.

Vrancken: ‘I’m not worried’

Vrancken is confident his strikers will come good. Claudio Braga, Calvin Miller and Alexandros Kyziridis started in the forward area against the Austrians. Amadou Ba-Sy and Pierre Landry Kabore were given second half run outs. The Belgian manager explained that the clinical side of all the strikers’ game will improve with minutes on the pitch although he admitted that “we cannot wait on the physical condition to be top before we get the results”.

He added: “I'm not worried because again, the sharpness is an important thing and you have to have the physical volume, there's a base where the intensity comes from. And when you have this then it's also more clear in your head - let's call it like this - to have this last step to finish it.

“When you are clear, when you are feeling comfortable physically, then you make better decisions. But you saw the first 25 minutes, it was a lot of intensity, a lot of good movements, a lot of energy and good decisions also. And then you see when the fatigue comes in a little bit, then the decision-making slips a little bit and then we come up with the same thing.”

Vrancken paid tribute to goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow, who was superb in his final game for the club. The German is joining Mainz in his homeland this weekend and was applauded off by those fans still in the ground at the end.

Hearts would have suffered a far more comprehensive defeat if he had not made several good blocks. “It's nice for him that he had a good performance,” said Vrancken. “It's a pity for him that he couldn't have a good result with it, to say goodbye to the fans. He is a great goalie and a great person.”