‘Furious’ derby is start to ’13 cup finals’ for leaders Hearts

Scottish Premiership: Heart of Midlothian v Hibernian

Venue: Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh Date: Tuesday, 10 February Kick-off: 20:00 GMT

Heart of Midlothian face “13 cup finals” between now and the end of the season if they are to claim their first Scottish title for 66 years, according to head coach Derek McInnes – and few will come bigger than Tuesday’s visit by city rivals Hibernian.

The Premiership leaders slipped up last Tuesday, when a brave hour of battling while down to 10 men came to nothing thanks to St Mirren’s 88th-minute winner in Paisley.

The following evening, fifth-placed Hibs were the ones to leave it late, coming from 2-1 down to beat Dundee United in the closing minutes.

Now David Gray’s side will be looking to dent Hearts’ title challenge again as they aim for a derby double after their 3-2 win at home in December.

A city divided, but both team bosses are united on at least one opinion – the maroon half of Edinburgh deserve to be where they are given their performances so far this season.

Slip up on Tuesday, though, and their four-month spell at the top of the table could come to an end 24 hours later should Rangers win their equally tough fixture away to fourth-top Motherwell.

To avoid that fate, McInnes says his side “cannot dwell” on their defeat in Paisley and the loss of key centre-half Craig Halkett through suspension.

“We are top of the league for a reason – because we have been good,” he said.

“We have to be honest and say, going down to 10 men the other night, made the whole evening far more challenging than it needed to be.

“When we have lost this season, it’s been by the odd goal or penalty kicks. The bar’s been raised and everybody expects so much from us in every game.”

While Hearts have indeed been “competitive”, their cause has not been helped by red cards for goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow, midfielder Beni Beningime and then Halkett in recent weeks.

However, McInnes insisted: “It is a concentration thing, not a discipline thing.”

He knows they cannot afford any more of that, or the “slow start” he blames for December’s derby defeat, and dismisses suggestions that his side might be feeling extra pressure from an improving Old Firm.

Rangers are now only three points adrift, and only three behind on goal difference, while reigning champions Celtic are three further back with a game in hand.

“We’ve been top of the league for four and a half months, so no extra anxiety,” McInnes said.

“Every game is important. We’ve got 13 cup finals.

“We’ve got three home games out of the next four. We’ve had some tough fixtures and we have some good fixtures coming up for us to show our strength.”

McInnes thought, with injuries forcing changes against St Mirren, “there was a wee bit lack of energy because some players have maybe not played as much recently”.

However, it would not force him into starts for fit-again record signing Eduardo Ague in midfield, or January forward arrivals Rogers Mato and Islam Chesnokov.

“I get the clamour for these players to be involved,” McInnes said. “There is nobody more excited when you sign players and a manager wants to bring players who are ready, but they’re not ready and we’re trying hard to get them ready.

Given their own injuries and January business, Hibs’ starting line-up could have a completely different look to the one that emerged from the Easter Road tunnel last time out against Hearts.

With Scotland striker Kieron Bowie sold to Hellas Verona, Dane Scarlett made an immediate impact on loan from Tottenham Hotspur by setting up the opener against United, while Ante Suto, the forward bought from Slaven Belupo, replaced him to score the stoppage-time winner.

McInnes, though, expects a similar “structure” to Hibs’ counter-attacking style and is predicting “no real surprises” from counterpart Gray.

The Hibs boss is also expecting more of the same – the kind of derby that is one of the key selling points for his club – and thinks his new arrivals will be relishing the opportunity.

“League position, division you’re in, it doesn’t matter, it’s the Edinburgh derby and brilliant games to look forward to, brilliant game to be involved in,” Gray said.

“At the same time, you don’t want to get carried away with it, you need to be calming the chaos.”

Despite a 1-0 defeat on their last visit to Tynecastle in October, Hibs have managed to do that in winning three of the most recent four derbies.

Gray, though, dismisses the suggestion that the win is more important to Hearts this time round.

“I understand why you would say that, because of the league situation, but we’ve got our own objectives and targets,” he said, pointing out that a win would lift Hibs to within one point of Motherwell in fourth.

“The derby is the derby. The bragging rights for your supporters.”

Gray is well aware of the challenge of facing a side with genuine title aspirations.

“They have put themselves in a fantastic position,” he said. “That doesn’t happen by accident at all.

“It’s not as if we’re only five or six games into the league or even one round of fixtures.”

Gray expects a typical derby: “It’s very fast, it’s very ferocious and played in a brilliant atmosphere.”