Derek McInnes admits he’s expecting a tight encounter as the Jambos prepare to travel to Leith this Saturday.
Craig Halkett was the hero when the sides met at Tynecastle earlier in the season, in a match played in wet and windy conditions in Gorgie but the head coach insists there was little between the teams on the day and is anticipating another tough game.
Speaking to the media at the pre-match press conference, McInnes said:
“I think Saturday's game for Hearts and Hibs is always the main deal, and it's always a big occasion. I think in the context, certainly for our season at the minute, we just want to win three points and try to keep the whole thing going.
“But there's going to be a lot of good players on the show. Hibs have got lots of good players. Myself, Paul and Alan have all watched them live over the last few games, they're a good side and going to Easter Road is always a tricky game.
“I expect it to be similar to the game at Tynecastle. There was nothing in it, really. Obviously, they had a big chance with the one off the bar from Boyle, and we scored in the dying embers of the game, which caused huge emotion from our fans and a huge elation.
"It was such a brilliant ending to the game for us, but if you actually look at the context of the game, it was very tight, and I'd imagine Saturday would be no different.”
As we approach the final match of 2025, the head coach admits he's really enjoying life at Hearts.
“Really enjoyable. I think we're making a lot of progress. I think the support and the ambition, the drive from the board has been great. For me as a manager and the staff, it's just great to be working for a club with a clear plan, clear ambition, and we're really enjoying it. We just want to try and keep building what we're doing.
“There's still a lot to come from us, hopefully, and we can see that in the second part of the campaign. It's up to us to keep improving on things, and I think they've been well documented.
“We do believe, as a club, it underpins everything that we will continue to get better through each window. A big part of my job is making sure that we're recognising the qualities that we've got in the dressing room, from new signings to boys who have been here a long time. We're getting everything from everybody, so we'll just try to keep it going at the minute.”
McInnes confirmed that Halkett could play a part in the match having been on the grass with the physios on Tuesday, with a view to further training later in the week.
“Braga took a couple of sore ones on his ankle, so he wasn't out doing his recovery on the grass today, he stayed indoors, but just a kick, a wee bit of swelling on the ankle, but he'll be fine for the weekend. Craig Halkett did a little bit of work with the physios, he'll train again tomorrow, which is good news, and Harry Milne obviously missed the game with suspension, he’s back involved as well for the weekend.
“We've still got Calem Nieuwenhof still struggling a wee bit with his injury, young Finlay Pollock's longer term, he was out on the grass this morning doing a bit of work as well, but they're the three boys who have had issues as we know.”
