Robbie Neilson insists Hearts will take fight to Fiorentina as he makes Conference League group prediction

Robbie Neilson insists Hearts are ready to take the fight to Fiorentina in a bid to ignite their campaigns at home and abroad.

The Jambos boss believes the warning from a 10-man 4-0 weekend hammering from Rangers must also be heeded if they're to shock the struggling Serie A outfit and cement second spot in their Europa Conference League qualification Group A. Cammy Devlin's red card against the Light Blues proved a critical factor during Saturday's defeat but as Fiorentina arrive at Tynecastle on Thursday night on the back of only one win on their last ten outings, Neilson is adamant discipline will be key as he urged his side to adopt a front-foot approach.

He said: "We have to respect a Serie A team coming to Tynecastle but we also have to believe we can take the game to them. I believe that here, with 20,000 fans behind us under the floodlights, we have to take the game to the opposition. But we also have to be mindful of the real quality they have in their team.

"We were hugely disappointed with the outcome at the weekend and the biggest learning curve for us is making sure we keep 11 players on the pitch when you play against top teams like Rangers, like Fiorentina. You have to keep your full team on the pitch, we didn’t do that and the game ran away from us. That’s done and dusted and we have an opportunity to put it right on Thursday night.

"Fiorentina have had a difficult start to their season but they would probably look at us as well and say the same thing. It's two teams who will have this opportunity tomorrow night to kick start their seasons.

Neilson revealed he's a well versed student of Italian football and he's refusing to be fooled by Fiorentina's recent form which also leaves them at the foot of