Neil Critchley clocks Hearts 'red flag' as he demands players don't blow it in Jambos' 100th Euro tie

Neil Critchley has demanded his Hearts players pick themselves off the floor and ensure they don’t blow a golden opportunity in the club’s 100th European tie.

Victory over Moldovan side Petrocub at Tynecastle on Thursday night will secure a first knockout phase spot for the Jambos since 1989. Hearts are rock bottom of the Premiership following Sunday’s dismal defeat to 10-man Kilmarnock but Critchley insists the job is NOT bigger than he expected. And he reckons progress in Europe can help his stars lift themselves out of the doldrums domestically too.

He said: “I said that to the players when we got back together after the game against Kilmarnock - how often do you get opportunities like this in your career? They go by so quickly. Craig Gordon I'm sure is thinking it wasn't long ago since he was 18 and about to start on his career. It goes by in a flash and you can't miss these opportunities.

“It's a great chance for us at home to get the points on the board that we need to progress. And then it gives us all something to look forward to. I think it will give everyone a lift, give us a boost going into what is an important period of games for us in the league.

“Obviously, we have the opportunity to progress in a European competition, we want to get into the latter stages and progress. We have an opportunity to do that. It's in our hands. We were going through all the possible permutations and all kinds of scenarios yesterday and we gave up after about five minutes and just thought, let's just concentrate on doing our best to win the game. 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