SABAH KERJOTA would love to get his hands on Mo Salah’s Trabzonspor shirt.

But he’d be just as happy if the Liverpool legend didn’t turn up against Hearts.

Wouter Vrancken’s Jambos will travel to Turkiye still reeling from Sunday’s 7-1  hammering by Celtic.

It was their heaviest loss for 13 years and the worst  possible preparation for Thursday’s Conference League clash.

Kerjota admits this is a game he has been looking forward to since the draw.

The 25-year-old winger has long been an admirer of Salah, who moved to Super Lig side Trabzonspor in the summer after a glittering nine-year spell at Anfield.

And he’s even spoken to fellow Albanian and Trabzonspor team-mate Ernest Muci to see if he can get his jersey.

But with points at a premium following last week’s 1-1 draw with Nordsjaelland, all Kerjota really wants is a result.

He said: “For every player in the world, not just every player at Hearts, Salah is one of the best. He is one of my heroes and I have watched him to try and learn from him.

“Will there be a fight for his shirt? I have already spoken to their Albanian guy who plays in our national team, so hopefully — we will see. 

“But I would rather get the three points, so hopefully he’s going to play a bad game on Thursday!”

Egypt superstar Salah looked in the mood when Trabzonspor opened up with a 4-2 win over Finns KuPS Kuopio last week.

The 34-year-old set up his side’s first goal and scored their second before coming off after 55 minutes.

By doing so he joined a rare group of players to score and assist in the Champions, Europa and Conference League. 

And he also scored his side’s second goal in their 2-0 league win over Besiktas on Monday evening.

But having worked so hard to join Trabzonspor in the league phase by seeing off Rapid Vienna in August, Kerjota insists his Jambos can go to Turkiye and stop them.

He said: “We’re just going to do our best and we are going there to play our game. This is why we worked so hard in Vienna, to play in these type of games and against these players.

“We are here now and we need to play like we are the same like them. So we’ll do our best.

“The atmosphere is going to be very tough, we know that in Turkiye, Trabzonspor, Galatasaray and Besiktas have some of the best stadiums in the world for the supporters. 

“But here we play against Rangers and Celtic and when those teams come here to play at Tynecastle it’s the same atmosphere.

“So it will be a good game for us and hopefully we get some points.”

Boss Vrancken has spent the last couple of days trying to pick up his shattered side ahead of Thursday’s stern test.

Hearts suffered heavy losses on their travels to Sturm Graz and Benfica this season in the early weeks of the Belgian’s reign.

But they had appeared to steady the ship before their mauling in the east end of Glasgow, where they gifted the Hoops goal after goal.

And Kerjota knows they  simply cannot afford more slip-ups when they come up against the Super Lig side.

He said: “European games are so different from the Scottish Premiership because the teams never drop the ball, they never give the ball away.

“They have the power to play for 90 minutes and at a high level and we need to learn from this.

“Trabzonspor will be at a similar level because they have good players. 

“Benfica is a little bit better because they have young players and they play at a better level.

“But in terms of the support they have and Salah, I don’t need to say anything.

“I have never played in Turkiye, but I’m from Albania, so you always hear things about the Turkish teams. 

“They have good players, Salah, they have Muci too, they won their first game in the league phase. So it’s going to be a tough game.”

Hearts had chances to kill off Danish rivals Nordsjaelland in their opener last Thursday.

But they failed to take them and were pegged back with just four  minutes left.

So Kerjota knows they need to be more ruthless if they are presented with opportunities in Trabzon.

And despite their heavy loss on Sunday he believes they’ll still have a go.

He added: “I think the coach wants to do the same. He never wants to defend. 

“We will try to play our game. After we will see if they are that good. But we will play our game, for sure.

“When you lead for 80  minutes at your home you want to win, but this is Europe and we need to learn from what happened last week against Nordsjaelland. 

“We were good for 80-85 minutes. But we saw again that European teams are different. 

“So it will be a difficult game, for sure. But if we play well, like we have shown already this season, I think we can have a good game.”