There will be no Craig Halkett for Hearts as Robbie Neilson's men gear up for their Europa Conference League opener against Istanbul Basaksehir.
The star defender remains sidelined due to the injury he suffered against Zurich last month. He joins long-term absentees Liam Boyce, Kye Rowles and Beni Baningime on the sidelines. New signing Robert Snodgrass has not been registered for the group stage. Jorge Grant is suspended. There will be no sign of former Arsenal star Mesut Ozil or ex-Tottenham winger Nacer Chadli at Tynecastle.
But Neilson is full of belief his side can rise to the challenge when they take on Emre's big-spending side on Thursday evening and rejected any notion of doubt ahead of their group stage adventure. The Hearts boss said: “There’s none of that. We have earned the right to be here, we’ve shown we can do it. We were consistent in the league last season and we deserve to be here but we have to prove it. The players can play at this level. It’s about pitting ourselves against some top teams in Europe, international players who have played for huge clubs. We have a lot of young guys and hopefully they will recognise that they can play at that level."
Record Sport runs the rule over Neilson's squad options and predicted line-up ahead of the big one in Gorgie.
Predicted Hearts XI
A tough one to call, Neilson could plump for Andy Halliday to add steel in the midfield and Lewis Neilson may get the nod over Toby Sibbick.
Hearts Europa Conference League squad to face Istanbul
Craig Gordon
Ross Stewart
Zander Clark
Michael Smith
Stephen Kingsley
Nathaniel Atkinson
Alex Cochrane
Lewis Neilson
Toby Sibbick
Peter Haring
Jorge Grant
Orestis Kiomourtzoglou
Gary Mackay-Steven
Cammy Devlin
Andy Halliday
Alan Forrest
Finlay Pollock
Lawrence Shankland
Barrie McKay
Euan Henderson
Connor Smith
Stephen Humphrys
Josh Ginnelly
