Michael Smith insists Hearts are ready to become renaissance men in Florence by making amends for selling the club short in recent months.
A crucial Europa Conference League clash against Fiorentina awaits on Thursday in the Tuscan capital against Fiorentina on the back of only three wins from their last dozen outings. That includes a dismal 3-0 loss to the Serie A side last midweek which Smith admits was an example of a sub-standard display from the Jambos which was followed with a share of the points at Kilmarnock on Sunday.
The Northern Irishman didn't hold back in his assessment of recent disappointments and he's convinced a trip to Italy is the chance to give their Group A qualifying hopes a major shot in the arm. He said: "We just feel like we are letting people down at the minute and that is on us, the players. We have not been good enough and we know that. It is down to us to turn it around.
"We worked our socks off last season and even the season before to get to this level and we all feel that we are maybe letting ourselves and the club down a little bit with some of the showings we have given. That is down to us. Things have happened and we have put in poor performances but we need to regroup. We have still got a chance of progressing so we can’t just lie down and die. We go away again to Florence this week and we know what we are up against but we have to go there and give a better performance."
Robbie Neilson 's side sit on three points with La Viola one better off in second spot behind Istanbul Basaksehir who lead the table on seven. But a win for Hearts this week would provide genuine hope of progressing beyond their first European group-stage campaign in 18 years. The evidence from a superb Fiorentina performance at Tynecastle is that that task will be mammoth despite their 4-0 hammering at home to Lazio on Monday night. But Smith is adamant it was a perfect storm of the Jambos falling well, having Lewis Neilson red carded and affording far too much respect to the opposition.
He said: "It was a tough night. We had a game plan and didn’t execute it properly. I thought we gave them a bit too much respect, especially at Tynecastle. Looking back on it, that's easy to say now but we didn't lay a glove on them. We didn't do enough. That is easy to say with hindsight but it was another disappointing night. We now have to pick ourselves up and go again.
"We are at a big club ourselves and we need to go out and try to show what we are about. But that didn’t happen and we need to go again. It’s hard to take. We are very down about it. When the sending off happens we basically had no chance of getting back in it so we need to sort a few things out and go again."
Former Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic and Christian Kouame turned in eye-catching displays in Edinburgh and the margin of Fiorentina's victory could have far more severe but Smith believes fortune can favour the brave in Florence He said: "There is no point in fearing them. We need to go and try to get some sort of result. We know what we are up against now and we will look at the footage from Thursday and see what we can do to change things.
"If anything, we need to show a bit more belief and a bit more heart and have confidence in ourselves. If we can do that then maybe we can get more from it. We had a couple of chances against them at Tynecastle, okay, not clear cut but it showed we can create chances so if we can keep it a bit tidier at the back then you never know what could happen. I think confidence and belief is massive for us."
Hearts left the field to the sound of boos from some of their fans after dismantling from the classy Italians and Smith reserved the right for a disgruntled support to vent their feelings.
"It is their choice if they want to boo or not. We are working hard and we are trying to do something, so it’s not like we are just lying down. It is tough, football is tough, and especially at the minute it is also a confidence thing. If we can get one win then we can maybe get that confidence back. Going into Thursday's game, we knew it would be a tough night but I thought we would’ve given it a bit more.
"We have to help each other out on the pitch. Sometimes it was working all right and we were getting pressure but at other times they were just passing it around us and through us and it was too easy for them at times.
"I know they had a lot of chances but if we had taken one of ours then it might have been a different story. I know it’s easy to say that now, after we have lost the game.
"We can't make it as easy as that for teams but at the minute we are not making it that difficult for teams to come and play so it is down to us to sort it out and I’m sure we will do that.
"It is about confidence and belief and talking and having faith in each other."
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