it's Spurs not the Taliban in Europa League, says Hearts' Ryan Stevenson

For Spurs the Europa League tie constitutes an unwelcome distraction from the season's principal business of a sufficiently high finish in the Premier League that would ensure a return to the lucrative pastures of the Champions League. Hearts, of necessity, see matters differently.

For the second time in two years the tax authorities have had to threaten to wind up the Tynecastle club in order to ensure the payment of an outstanding bill. In such circumstances a European tie against a substantial Premier League club is a benison from heaven for Vladimir Romanov.

The autocratic Hearts owner was in town, unlike Spurs, to whom it apparently came as a surprise that there was not a hotel room to be had in the Scottish capital, on account of some lark called the Edinburgh Festival. Romanov met his most recently appointed coach, Paulo Sergio – who succeeded Jim Jefferies at the start of the month to become the 12th man to take charge of the team (including caretaker figures) since the Lithuanian banker took control in the summer of 2005.

Sergio knows the form around Tynecastle. Asked how Romanov had spent his time, Sergio replied: "He made a visit to see us. I talked a little bit after training with him. Everything was OK, no problem."

That prompted the inevitable question of whether or not Romanov had interfered in this evening's selection, to which the Portuguese coach retorted: "He then told me the 11 players to play! No problem! He was lucky – he told me all the ones I had in my team!"

In this case, though, Spurs' probable line-up is more of a mystery than anything Hearts are likely to conjure, as a consequence of the injury disruption to the White Hart Lane squad.

Deprived of a likely opposing team selection to dissect, Sergio has opted for a more general strategy and when asked if knowledge of the Spurs starting formation would have made any difference to his approach, he said: "No. I'm extremely focused in what we can do, in what we shouldn't let them do.

"It's about our work and job with the players. It's not what they're going to do. Let's focus on us. Every professional in football lives for big moments and I'm no different. I'm excited but also very focused.

"Tottenham have to be favourites. Maybe Harry Redknapp isn't happy because his team can't be as strong as he'd like but I believe every Tottenham player is a very good player so we have a lot of work to do, no matter the team they put on the field.

"The game on paper is one thing – on the pitch it's another."

Sergio, though struck a defiant chord that will echo amongst the Hearts support in the capacity crowd when he added: ''Nobody should think that we can't win or that we're defeated because we're not.

"Our chances are less than Tottenham and I don't think anyone will bet on us but maybe the guy who bets on us will win big money. We have a chance and if we win then it's not the first time there has been an upset.

"It has happened in the past. I know the difficulties we face but we're going to work and fight. Even the injured players want to play in this game but some of them have been injured for so many weeks so they have to wait to be fit.

''We can compete, that's why we're in the competition, and that's what we're going to do. We recognise Spurs are favourites, no doubt about that, but we want to compete with the best.

''I would like all of Harry Redknapp's players to be fit to play in this game but unfortunately – first of all for them – they have some players injured. Maybe we rely more on our players who are injured than they do."

As he tries to build momentum it would be a surprise if Sergio made more than a couple of changes to the team that beat Aberdeen 3-0 at the weekend although, given the Pittodrie team's indifferent form, Hearts fans would be prudent not to built too much hope on that foundation. Likewise, although Tynecastle is a gladiatorial arena par excellence the effect should not overstated.

After all, amid the most combustible atmosphere of last season down Gorgie way – Celtic's visit in the penultimate league match of the campaign on May 11 – Hearts lost 3-0.

Still, when a Scottish team meets English opposition in competitive action, the ambience is usually one to savour and Ryan Stevenson put the challenge into perspective when the Tynecastle midfielder said: "Eighteen months ago I was preparing to play against Brechin and now I'm playing Tottenham.

"This season didn't start as I wanted it to but I came back in and managed to score a couple of goals in the last round. That was my European debut which made it special for me."

In response to the suggestion that Spurs' strength was an intimidating prospect, Stevenson replied: "I think we've got to be excited. I mean, what's the worst that can happen?

"The way I personally look at it, there are so many worse things I can be doing. I've been part-time, I've seen boys working on building sites on the news, I've seen guys fighting in Afghanistan.

"We're getting the chance to play against Tottenham. When you're a young kid, it's everyone's dream, to play against the best teams in the world.

"So for that, you've got to be excited, not intimidated. You want to show what a good player you are, what you can do. That's what the manager wants us to do.

"There's not really any fear. Whatever happens, everyone expects us to lose, anyway. We know what we can do as a team. We'll see what happens because, once we cross that white line, it's all there for us."

Taken from telegraph.co.uk