Mehdi Taouil: Chasing Europe gives Hearts ideal Hampden preparation

Mehdi Taouil thinks three massive games chasing Europe will be the perfect way for Hearts to prepare for the Scottish Cup final.

The Tynecastle men welcome Motherwell to Gorgie on Tuesday with a mathematical chance of catching the Lanarkshire side to claim third spot - and a shot at the Champions League qualifiers.

While tricky midfielder Taouil knows it will be hard to gain the maximum nine points available to draw level with the Steelmen, he thinks the chase for European spots will give Hearts a great challenge ahead of their Hampden date with city rivals Hibernian.

Taouil said: “We can catch [Motherwell] if we win the three games and they lose the three games but I think it’s going to be hard.

“We are going to do everything we can for it because we have nothing to lose.

“The remaining games are against hard opposition. Motherwell are a good team, St Johnstone have had a very good season so it’s going to be a very hard game.

“Then we have Celtic at Celtic Park when they receive the league trophy so these are very hard games and there is no better way for us to prepare for the cup final than by playing against very hard opposition.”

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