Hearts boss Jim Jefferies has warned his players to be prepared for an Aberdeen backlash when they travel to Pittodrie this weekend.

Mark McGhee's side were sent tumbling out of the Active Nation Scottish Cup by first division Raith Rovers last week and were then beaten by struggling Falkirk in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League on Saturday to leave the shellshocked Dons desperate to return to winning ways.

The Jambos, who suffered a cup exit in Aberdeen in January, head north with confidence levels high after back-to-back wins over the Bairns and Hamilton and JJ knows they are in for a testing 90 minutes in the Granite City.

"They will be smarting from their defeats recently and there has been a talk-in up there but we'll go there and concentrate on ourselves," Jim told Hearts.TV.

"We're expecting them to show, as they did the last time they played Hearts, that they are a good side. Our Scottish Cup defeat up there is in the past and all we can control is what happens in the future.

"We are buoyed by our two last results and need to build on them. There is a bit of breathing space between us and Aberdeen and we want to try to widen that gap as they have a game in hand so it's a big game for us."

On Hearts.TV today, watch JJ's interview in full plus don't miss an EXCLUSIVE chat with Larry Kingston and the goals from the win over Hamilton.