Yan Dhanda faces fan questions as Hearts struggle to escape the burden of the Europa Conference League.

The Jambos have had a rough start to the season.

Tomorrow night’s match at Sumgayit City Stadium may leave the stands as barren as Hearts’ Premiership standings win column.

But, even though he’s 3400 miles away from Gorgie, Yan Dhanda knows that if the Jambos’ terror streak continues on the other side of Europe, he’ll be forced to face some harsh realities. Not when his uncle is a season ticket holder, lifelong supporter, and Tynecastle trip buddy. Dhanda has had some difficult interrogations on the way home from games this season.

Despite signing from Ross County in the summer, Hearts have yet to win in ten games. The 25-year-old was questioned further following Saturday’s 1-1 tie with his former team. However, Dhanda is confident that better days are ahead.

Hearts arrived on the Caspian Sea Sunday night for their Europa Conference League opener against Dinamo Minsk. Due to UEFA penalties imposed on Belarusian clubs for their role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, no fans will be permitted to enter the spanking new 10,000-capacity stadium.

However, do not indicate to Dhanda that this would relieve the burden on Hearts. He explained, “You’re playing for Hearts, and you’re supposed to win games, so the pressure is normal. I don’t mind playing under pressure because that’s what you should expect when you play for Hearts. I got it from my family, anyway! I am used to it.

“My family is a big admirer of Hearts. They’re always asking inquiries. Obviously, they want to see a solid performance. I believe we can draw positives from the Ross County game.

“My uncle came home with me in the car on Saturday, and he always tells me how he feels. He is clearly disappointed when we don’t win games. It spoils his weekend when we don’t win games.

“That’s exactly how the supporters are. He will let me know. I’m just pumped for Thursday. I believe the Ross County game was a great step forward from the previous weeks.”

Dhanda came in as a late substitute in the Europa League play-off defeat to Viktoria Plzen at Tynecastle, as the Czechs knocked Hearts out and into the Conference League. However, he is yet to play official Euro football on the continent, having been an unused substitute in the first match.

The Brummie’s sole previous experience came in a Romanian youth competition with West Brom over a decade ago, when he faced Rangers winger Ianis Hagi. Dhanda says that witnessing the Ibrox club and Celtic get off to fast starts in their respective seasons has whetted his thirst for a taste of his own.

He said, “Definitely. I believe they’ve done really well in Europe and consistently. We must take the positives from it and head over there confident that we can achieve our goals and win. We just need to play excellent football.

“We need to keep training hard because we’ve shown over the last several months that no game will be easy. Everyone wants to beat Hearts because we are a large club.

“We need to be focused. We must continue to learn from the personnel, regardless of who they are. We’ve got a fantastic bunch in there, and everyone sticks together. It’s a great community of guys that support one another.

“They’ve made things easier for me and the new signings. Hopefully, I’ll be able to play in Europe and showcase my abilities.

“It was a significant part of why I came here. I believe that everyone in football aspires to participate in European competition. I’ve visited Romania when I was younger. When I was at West Brom, we went on a pre-season trip.

“I was approximately 11 years old, and it was one of the first times I left my mother and father. I truly don’t recall much. But I remember Ianis Hagi was playing, and we didn’t win!

“Everyone said, ‘That’s Hagi’s son.'” He was terrific back then, too. You remember those things. So I’m sure in years to come, I’ll remember coming to Azerbaijan and playing in the Europa League.

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