Hearts will be quietly confident - McGowan

Hearts will be placing a "massive emphasis" on Europe, says former defender Ryan McGowan, as the club prepares for a first Champions League qualifier in 20 years. The Edinburgh side are in Austria for the first leg of their second round contest with Sturm Graz. Victory would set up a meeting with either Fenerbahce or Gornik Zabrze and provide a guarantee of reaching the league phase of the Europa League. Benfica or St Gallen await the losers in Europa League qualifying. "Hearts will be quietly confident," McGowan told the BBC Scottish Football Podcast . "They are not playing a heavyweight, but it is a difficult game. It's a real test to see where they are at. "They will hope they can get some kind of result to stay in the tie." Tynecastle investor Tony Bloom has made an impact in Europe with Brighton and Union Saint-Gilloise and McGowan believes it is central to the player-trading model deployed by all three clubs. "There will be a massive emphasis on European football since it makes it more appealing to bring in players and a much better place to be selling from," added the Livingston veteran. "If they can get through this one, they will have big, big games coming up." Following what McGowan called an "almost perfect season" with Hearts unbeaten at home and missing out on the title to Celtic on the last day, the Edinburgh club has gone through a major summer rebuild. Manager Derek McInnes has left for Rangers, along with Lawrence Shankland and Cammy Devlin, while replacement head coach Wouter Vrancken has nine new players in his squad. "Yes, there was anger when they lost their manager and top scorer but looking at the bigger picture there's real excitement," added McGowan. "A lot of fans I've spoken to feel like if Hearts are to be the club Tony Bloom wants them to be then Derek McInnes probably wasn't the man to take them to that next level - in terms of winning the league and Europe." Midfielder Laurent Mendy is poised to join Hearts before the home second leg against Sturm Graz, while there has been repeated media speculation over the future of Claudio Braga. The Portuguese forward, signed from the Norwegian second tier, insists he is content in Edinburgh, but McGowan has no doubt the 26-year-old would join the exodus - for the right price. "If Hearts can get the kind of numbers being reported, £6m up to £10m, then he's gone. Hearts will be kicking him out of the door! "This is the template Tony Bloom has and it's been successful for him. "They will firmly believe they can find more Bragas to give them that platform "But Braga says he's happy at the club and, if he has European group stage football to look forward to, there's no reason why he wouldn't want to stay on until a suitable bid comes in."