Hibs boss relishing Derby challenge

Mixu Paatelainen will lead his Hibs side into battle with fierce city rivals Hearts on Sunday looking forward to the clash which is only his second derby since taking over the Easter Road hotseat back in January.

Mixu’s first SPL clash in charge of the Hibees was ironically against Sunday’s visitors with Hearts recording a 1-0 victory in a game which also seen Ian Murray’s second debut for Hibs.

The game at Tynecastle was the last clash between the two Edinburgh rivals following the Jambo’s failure to finish in the top six and the nine month absence has made this encounter eagerly awaited by both sets of fans.

The Hibs gaffer had an excellent record in Derby games during his spell as a player at the club and would love to see his current playing staff emulate the success he enjoyed.

‘We had a fantastic spell in derby games when I was playing at Hibernian, we seemed to have the upper hand – yet Hearts had a very good and experienced team back then,’ he said during an interview with HI.

‘But then so did we, and we also had the confidence.

‘Whenever we were faced with a derby match we thought, ‘Great, we are going to win this’.

‘There was no question about it, and it was not an arrogant approach to the game, but just very, very confident.

‘We got some great results against them, but more recently these matches have again been very tight. There have not been many times when one side has been a lot better than the other, more often there has been just one goal in the game.

‘I would like to see us creating that confidence again, and I’m sure our supporters would love to see that as well.

‘You can only create this by doing things right, by going out there and dictating things, dominating the match and taking the upper hand from the start and making things happen.

‘Home advantage should not really make a difference in this or any other game,’ said the manager, whose side have won three of their last four Clydesdale Bank Premier League games.

Hibs have been on a decent run of form lately, winning 3 out of their last four, although Paatelainen was quick to dismiss any notion that home advantage will have a significant bearing on Sunday’s outcome.

‘We talk about our home form or away form, and recently our away form has been great, but there should be no difference.

‘It’s more or less the same size of pitch, the same number of players and one ball.

‘Yes, in away games they are going to have more supporters but our supporters are always vocal, they travel fantastically and so we should have no problems at all – so home or away we should go into a game with confidence that we are going to take control.’

‘What happens often with players, and coaches, is that you get a little carried away when things don’t go well.

‘You stop thinking about the game, you stop doing the things that you are doing right on the pitch and you stop analysing. You are worrying over what you are doing wrong, how to get back on track – that’s always the danger.’