Robbie Neilson launches Hearts Europa League mission to reward deserving fans for saving the club

Robbie Neilson insists Hearts are on a Europa League mission to reward the fans who rescued their club during its darkest days.

The Tynecastle boss believes a full-house in Gorgie tonight can provide the driving force to overcome a 2-1 first-leg, play-off deficit and secure a group spot amongst some of the biggest names in the continent. Administration in 2013, demotion from the top-flight and two separate spells in the Championship over the last decade are fresh in Neilson 's mind and he's adamant progress against the Swiss champions can repay a support who dug deep into their pockets to keep Hearts afloat.

He said: "It’s probably the biggest driver for us all at the club, from the playing staff, coaching staff, out of any fans in the world they probably deserve it more than any because they put their hands in their pocket and saved the club, administration, demotion, coming back up again, top six.

"European football and last week was brilliant just to see the fans over in Switzerland and hopefully the ones that could not make it enjoy it. We’ve got another three trips away and three home games and we’ve certainly earned it."

FC Zurich will face the prospect of an electric European atmosphere in Edinburgh and Neilson is adamant the support in Gorgie can prove to be a decisive factor in a winner-takes-all clash.

He said: "We have to use the atmosphere to our advantage. Away goals don't count so it's a straight shootout. We're a goal behind so we have to take the game to them. I would expect them to try to manage the game and hit us on the counter-attack because they're very good on the counter. We need to make sure we cover that but we'll have 20,000 fans here and they'll want to see us perform. We want to make sure