Josh Ginnelly believes that it is a huge achievement for Hearts to be in the UEFA Europe Conference League and he added: “It is massive for the club to be playing at this level for the players, staff and the fans.”
Of course, Hearts entertain Latvian side RFS at Tynecastle on Thursday (kick-off 20.00) and Ginnelly said that everybody involved with the club believes they should be playing in Europe.
The 25-year-old added: “We have had some disappointing results, but we had a great win in Latvia so there are positives out of it and we have learned from it and we enjoy every game in this competition.”
Ginnelly said that some of the players that they have come up against, one that stands out the most is Fiorentina star, Serbian-born Luka Jovic, who cost £65 million.
And he said: “That is what you see in the Premier League in England. You look at those kind of players and you see how they move with the ball and the positions they pick up. Every position you can learn from some of the other players.”
Nuneaton-born Ginnelly added: “We are a good side and feel we can match most teams we play against. Against Celtic we probably had the better of the game and we should have walked away with something at least.
“They are playing in the Champions League, they are playing against Real Madrid, and we are going toe to toe with them.”
He said every game is different. Sometimes they set up for one way and it goes another way but Hearts are prepared for anything when RFS visit.
Ginnelly, who started his career in the Aston Villa youth system before joining Shrewsbury Town, Burnley, Walsall and then Hearts, added: “They (RFS) are a very good side and they deserve a lot more credit. They have gone away to the two biggest sides in the group and they have managed to get a draw. We have to give them credit where it is due.
“We are going into this with confidence. We beat them over there and we want to do it again here.”
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