Hibernian manager Shaun Maloney attempted to crank up the pressure on Hearts ahead of this weekend’s Scottish Cup semi-final by challenging his under-fire players to step up and derail their city rivals’ season.
The Easter Road side go into the last-four clash as underdogs after their 3-1 defeat at Tynecastle in the cinch Premiership last Saturday consigned them to the bottom six while the Jambos clinched third place.
Although Hearts are already guaranteed European qualification by virtue of their league position, Maloney claimed a Hibs win would breathe new life into their own campaign while simultaneously causing significant damage to the way their city rivals’ season is perceived.
“There has been a positive response in the dressing room to what we have spoken about since last weekend but the performance on the pitch will be the telling factor,” said the Hibs manager. “We have to see if we can sustain the way we played in the first 25 to 30 minutes.
“In the last three or four months I’ve been here, we have seen those moments but it is up to us to show we can sustain it.
“If we do that (on Saturday) we can really shape the narrative of the season. We can also shape the narrative of our opponents’ season – and Hearts will know that.”
Maloney appeared to be irked by aspects of Hearts’ celebrations in last weekend’s match.
“We’ll go into this game confident, not overconfident,” he said. “But I did sense after the game, the celebrations during it and after it… how they celebrate a win is up to them.
“We have certain values at our club that we won’t be going into any game with overconfidence.”
When pressed further on whether something had happened last weekend that annoyed him, Maloney replied bluntly: “Nope.”
Maloney is optimistic that the debrief following the Tynecastle defeat will bring a much stronger Hibs performance at Hampden.
“I have confidence (things will be put right),” he said. “I have real clarity on why we didn’t win the game last week, particularly in those 15 minutes around half-time, and I’m also quite clear on how we can hurt Hearts, and how we did hurt them (in the early stages).
“From that, and what we’ve done this week, I have confidence that if we are better at the things that cost us then we will give ourselves a good opportunity to win the game.
“I’ve given players clarity on why we didn’t win that game from a very positive position, why we gave that position up, and given them an understanding of what we need to do to change that. If we do, then the result can be very, very different to what it was last weekend.”
Hibs defender Paul McGinn is back in training after injury but unlikely to start on Saturday.
Defender Ryan Porteous, who is in the middle of a four-game league suspension, will go straight into the team, with Maloney stating that “there will be some slight differences” to his line-up this weekend.
“Ryan gives us a personality on the pitch that is different from most in our squad,” said Maloney. “He understands this game, he’s a huge Hibs fan, so it’s vital that he’s back for this game.”
