Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo refused to cite the bobbly surface at the Maksimir Stadium as an excuse ahead of tonight’s Europa League play-off clash with Dinamo Zagreb.

The pitch was damaged by a recent U2 pop concert by Irish band and despite being relaid on Tuesday, the surface was still uneven when the Edinburgh club held a training session.

That increases the likelihood of Hearts returning to Tynecastle with a new set of injuries, but Laszlo maintains it won’t influence the result.

“The most important thing is not the pitch – it is to put the ball in the opponents' net and not lose any goals,” he said. “We must play the game, if UEFA tell us it is okay then we must play football.

“The problem I saw was that it is not so stable. The grass moves and my worry for both teams is that the possibility of injury is at a high level.

“Our pitch is a little bit different but the weather is also different in Scotland and better for green grass. I hope after the game we don't talk about the quality of the pitch, hopefully we talk about the quality of the result.”