Hearts owner Ann Budge sets manager Craig Levein European target

The club have not qualified for continental competition since the 2015/16 campaign when Robbie Neilson guided the club to third spot. Since then, Hearts have secured successive sixth-place finishes and Budge is expecting an improvement.

She says her positive relationship with Levein, who also acts as director of football at Tynecastle, means she will not shy away from “very frank” discussions with the former Scotland boss.

“I’ve said consistently that our objective is to be fighting for a European spot, although we are not the only ones who say that,” said Budge. “It is a competitive league and it is getting more competitive. But we continue with that objective. We want to finish higher up the table this season and hopefully get back into Europe.

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“Craig and I compliment each other in terms of our skills and experience. We have a strong board and the relationships are good all-round. I work hard at building relationships and I’m very proud of the fact Craig and I can have very frank discussions. We have a good working relationship and that is needed.”

Continued fitness concerns over Peter Haring, allied with the departure of Arnaud Djoum, have left the club short of combative options in the middle of the park but Budge said: “We are still trying to strengthen our midfield at the moment and if can get that through then we will be raring to go.”

Levein also believes the club are in a good place, and in a stronger position than 12 months ago, despite the discontent among some of the Tynecastle faithful following a Betfred Cup penalty-kick defeat against East Fife last weekend. That came after unspectacular wins over League 2 sides Stenhousemuir and Cowdenbeath and a draw against Dundee United, with the Gorgie outfit prevailing on penalties on that occasion.

“I do feel good about the squad,” he said. “I know there is a lot of noise. I actually thought we’d finished bottom of the [Betfred] group, I had to go away and check to see what was going on. I thought my arithmetic had gone awry!

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“The idea in the Betfred Cup games was to finish top. We wanted to do that in more style and score more goals, which we didn’t, but it’s done.

“We can’t do anything about that, but we can kick on from here and hopefully get a good start at Aberdeen. I do feel that we are in a stronger position than last year.”

The completion of Steven Naismith’s protracted move is sure to lift spirits around Tynecastle, with Levein effusive in his praise for the Scotland striker.

“I managed Naisy at Scotland as well and I found him and Darren Fletcher, in particular to be really focused, professional and well-mannered people,” he said. “Sometimes you wonder what you’re bringing in to the building but, with Naisy, I had no qualms about getting him in as quickly as possible.”