Hearts to be seeded for first Euro tie

Hearts are aiming for the lucrative Europa League group stages after earning a seeding for the tournament's third qualifying round.

The Edinburgh club's co-efficient ensures they will be ranked amongst the stronger teams when the draw for the third qualifying round takes place on July 15. The ties are scheduled for Thursday, July 28, with the return leg a week later on August 4.

Jim Jefferies, the Hearts manager, is keen to negotiate the third qualifying round and a subsequent play-off tie later in August to reach the groups, thus securing a welcome financial boost for the club. Being seeded helps his case enormously.

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"I was not aware of the results in Europe at the weekend but it is definitely a bonus for us to learn we won't be facing some heavyweights at the earliest possible stage," he said. "We'll aim to reach the Europa League group stages and try to guarantee at least six more games in the tournament."

Hearts will now avoid the likes of Atletico Madrid, Red Star Belgrade and Palermo in the draw. However, they could still face hazardous trips to Hadjuk Split of Croatia, Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv or Poland's Legia Warsaw.

Other potentially awkward opponents include Omonia Nicosia of Cyprus - home to the former Tynecastle players Bruno Aguiar and Christos Karipidis - FK Aktobe from Kazakhstan and the Azeri club Qarabag Agdam.

"It would be nice if we could get through a couple of rounds, it's one round and then the play-offs," said Jefferies. "They will be tough matches but it would be great to get to the Europa League group section. It will be a big ask in terms of the squad because there will be a lot of distractions but it would be good to get to the group stages and give everyone a lot more European nights to look forward to."

Jefferies declared himself pleased with Hearts' placing in the third qualifying round. "It's worked in our favour because the 14th (of July] would have been a very early start for us. But because Celtic won the Cup, we now go into the next round which starts on the 28th. That's a bit of a bonus for us."