Cercle Brugge host Hearts on Thursday evening in the Europa Conference League without a number of key players. Kevin Denkey was sent off during the sides last European match against LASK Linz and is suspended for the match. They are also without Flavio Nazinho, who was injured during the sides 1-0 defeat to Standard Liege at the weekend. Burkinabe winger Abdoul Ouattara also looks set to miss out,.
One bright spark for the home side is that young defender Christiaan Ravych looks set to return from injury. Ravych was a key player during the sides fantastic campaign last season and will be a welcome return to the side for head coach Miron Muslic. Yet the loss of Denkey raises questions about where the goals will come from. The side need to find answers ahead of the Togolese strikers departure in a few weeks after agreeing a move to the MLS. Alan Minda has scored twice in Europe and will likely be looked on by the side to begin improving his goalscoring output, having impressed with eight goals and six assists in 39 games last year.
Kazeem Olaigbe, Felipe Augusto and Thibo Somers will also need to step up for the side during the clash with Hearts and in the Pro League going forward. Cercle began the competition well with a 6-2 hammering of St Gallen. They then inexplicably lost their second game to Icelandic side Vikingur Reykjavik before a hard fought 0-0 draw against LASK. The previous result should give them some confidence, given they played most of the game with 10 men. The side have already faced Scottish opposition this year, winning over two legs against Kilmarnock in Europa League qualification.
They face a Hearts side who have done well in this competition despite, like Cercle, their struggles domestically. Hearts beat Dinamo Minsk and Omonia Nicosia before losing at home to Heidenheim. They come into the game having lost their previous two league matches, although these were against Rangers and Celtic. Hearts fans will hope that former Beerschot striker Lawrence Shankland will use a return to Belgium to rediscover his goal scoring form. The 29-year-old, who scored five goals in 28 matches for Beerschot during the 2021/2022 season, has only scored once in 19 games this season. Last year he scored 31 goals in 47 games in all competitions.
Hearts two remaining games following the trip to Belgium are against FC Copenhagen and CS Petroclub. Cercle face Olimpija Ljubljana and Turkish side Istanbul BaÅŸakÅŸehir.
GBeNeFNÂ |Â Ben Jackson
