Hearts head coach Valdas Ivanauskas just about forced himself to admit he expects to progress to the lucrative UEFA Champions League third qualifying round after a comprehensive 3-0 first-leg victory in the second qualifier against Siroki Brijeg at Murrayfield.

The Gorgie side can look forward to Friday's third-round draw - where they can be paired with top sides like Arsenal, Liverpool and Ajax - with confidence after crushing the Bosnians in front of over 29,000 fans at Murrayfield.

The Gorgie club's biggest home European gate since 1960, albeit at the home of Scottish rugby, witnessed the home side take the lead in the 48th minute through an own goal by visiting defender Branimir Anic.

But there was no doubt about the second goal in the 78th minute, Ibrahim Tall driving in from close range following good work by substitute Michal Pospisil, who had replaced Edgaras Jankauskas just after the interval.

With five minutes remaining Roman Bednar pounced on a slack passback by Siroki stopper Ivica Landeka to score a third and almost certainly guarantee the Edinburgh club a tie against one of Europe's elite sides in the next round.

Afterwards Ivanauskas, reluctant to get carried away by the result, said: "We have a big chance to go through to the next round and we are not thinking about losing.

"We had a lot of chances in the first half but we didn't score and we had to keep our concentration and discipline but the second half was okay and I'm happy.

"It's a good result but we know how strong Siroki will be in Bosnia, they are the home team and they have very good players.

"Every team in every game has a chance.

"Don't forget last season when Artmedia Bratislava scored five goals against Celtic and then lost four in the second game. So we need to be careful."

Siroki Brijeg head coach Ivica Barbaric admits his side were beaten by the better side but could not resist having a dig at referee Espen Berntsen, whom he accused of letting Jambos defender Robbie Neilson step over the line at his throw-in which led to the opener.

He said: "Hearts are a strong team and don't need any help from referees.

"There were small mistakes by the referee, especially concerning Hearts players.

"Their first goal was scored when their player stepped over the line which was incorrect but the referee did not react.

"We expect to beat Hearts in the second game but obviously the result from this game doesn't give us too much hope.

"But we will try and get a victory at least in the second game.

Taken from sportinglife.com