Who could Hearts draw in the new-look UEFA Conference League?

Steven Naismith and his players will learn their opposition in Friday's draw.

Who could Hearts draw in the new-look UEFA Conference League?SNS Group

Hearts suffered disappointment in their bid to reach the Europa League but the Tynecastle side now have a place in the Conference League to look forward to as their European journey continues.

UEFA conduct the League Phase draw on Friday afternoon and start a new chapter in the competition, with te group stage gone and a new single league taking its place.

Hearts and the 35 other entrants will all be placed in a single table and play six games each. The top eight ranked teams qualify directly for the round of 16. The sides finishing 9th to 24th go into a play-off round and the bottom nine teams bow out of the competition.

Each team plays six different opponents, with one drawn from each seeding pot, and will have three home games and three away matches.

The level of opposition varies from some newcomers to group or league stage football in Europe, right through to former Champions League winners.

UEFA have split the teams into six seeding pots based on their club coefficient.

Here’s who Hearts could be facing.

Pot one

Chelsea
FC Copenhagen
Gent
Fiorentina
LASK
Real Betis

Pot two

Istanbul Basaksehir
Molde
Legia Warsaw
Heidenheim
Djurgarden
APOEL

Pot three

Rapid Bucharest
Omonia Nicosia
HJK
Vitoria de Guimaraes
Astana
Olimpija

Pot four

Cercle Brugge
Shamrock Rovers
The New Saints
Lugano
Mlada Boleslav

Pot five

Petrocub Hincesti
St Gallen
Panathinaikos
TSC
Borac Banja Luka
Jagellonia Bialystok

Pot six

Celje
Larne
Dinamo Minsk
Pafos
Vikingur
Noah

Matches begin on October 3 and are played through until December 19.

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