Both teams were forced to warm up again shortly after kicking off with visibility down to zero at one end thanks to the smoke

There was a false start for Hearts in Switzerland as their game was delayed just after kick-off.

The Europa Conference League clash away to FC Thun kick-oeff on schedule, but was shortly brought to a halt after home fasn let off a deluge of pyrotechnics.

And despite players trying to get the game going, visibility was reduced to near zero at one end of the pitch due to the smoke billowing from the stands.

The Thun goal wasn't even visible on TV and referee Cypriot referee Kyriakos Athanasiou was forced to press the pause button.

The smoke wasn't clearing quickly so both sets of players were forced into another warm up in one half of the pitch.

Bu after a delay of around eight minutes, visibility was deemed good enough to restart play with an attacking Hearts throw in.

And they nearly took the lead from it as Jordi Altena's throw was held by Claudio Braga, who teed up Josh McPake at the back post.

He hit the target, but Thun keeper Niklas Steffen was able to hold at his near pot.

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