Hearts v Schalke preview

John Robertson makes his managerial debut with Hearts when they host German giants Schalke in the Uefa Cup at Murrayfield on Thursday evening.

The former Tynecastle player (pictured) took charge of the Edinburgh side on Wednesday after The Jambos agreed a compensation deal with his previous club Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Robertson replaced the parted Craig Levein - who moved south to take charge of English Championship side Leicester City - and he will have a difficult job keeping the Scottish Premier League club in Europe this term.

Hearts will be keen to bounce back from their opening Group A defeat at Dutch giants Feyenoord, as Ruud Gullit's side eased to a 3-0 win at De Kuip two weeks ago.

The Jambos - buoyed by Saturday's 3-0 home win over Dundee in the SPL - will have striker Mark de Vries available after the Dutchman missed the trip to Rotterdam with a toe injury.

Midfielder Phil Stamp, however, is struggling to be fit for the match against the Bundesliga high-flyers with a calf problem.

Schalke, meanwhile, will also be buoyed for Thursday's contest after beating Bundesliga title contenders Stuttgart over the weekend.

Royal Blues boss Ralf Rangnick will want his side to go for victory in Scotland's national rugby union stadium after being held to a 1-1 draw by Swiss club Basel a fortnight ago.

With Levan Kobiashvili (flu) and defender Mladen Krstajic (groin) likely to be unavailable, Rangnick may use Hamit Altintop in the centre of midfield and Tomasz Waldoch in his backline against Hearts.