Pat Fenlon has challenged the young players whose emergence has given Hibernian a lift in recent weeks to demonstrate they are worthy of a place in the squad for the William Hill Scottish Cup final by showing they can handle the derby-day atmosphere at Tynecastle this afternoon.

Teenagers Danny Handling, Ross Caldwell and Alex Harris have all featured and the latter, in particular, has been a revelation, with his goal triggering the comeback that saw Hibs come back from the dead to beat Falkirk in the semi-final.

And Fenlon believes this afternoon's meeting with Hearts will offer them an ideal opportunity to prove they are capable of coping with the big occasion when they return to Hampden to face Celtic two weeks today.

The Easter Road manager said: "I have been [at Tynecastle] for a few games as a spectator and I've been a few times as a manager now. It is intimidating. I get plenty of nice things said about me.

"Players embrace the atmosphere which is created at a ground like that – but only if they have the balls to go and play there. That is what you need.

The Hearts fans try to make it as hostile as possible and you need the guts and quality to go and make it a bit quieter. It is a venue you can enjoy immensely as a player. You learn a lot about your players in those surroundings, particularly the younger ones.

"We have a few who have not sampled it. They have maybe played there when the place is empty for under-20 games, but it will be very different to go when it is full and it is rocking.

"It is a learning curve for them and I will naturally be looking to see how they react and how they handle it. It is a real chance for players to step up to the mark ahead of the cup final. The next three games, in fact, will give people the chance to make sure they are involved on the last day."

By avoiding defeat, Hibs would register an entire season unbeaten against Hearts for the first time since the 2000-01. While Hibs knocked their rivals out of the Scottish Cup, their three previous league meetings have been drawn, with only three goals produced by the four games between the sides.

Hibs conceded five to their rivals in last season's Scottish Cup final and Fenlon said: "The lack of goals, certainly in relation to us not conceding many, has been deliberate. That is something we had to stop.

"I said at the start of the season that we had to make the games against Hearts more competitive than they have been in the past few seasons. We have definitely done that this season. Who knows, maybe a bit of football will break out in this one. But we had to make sure we were combative. We rolled over too easily at times last year. So step one is done, now we aim to keep improving."

Despite former Hibs manager John Collins suggesting Leigh Griffiths should be rested, the on-loan striker will lead the line against Hearts this afternoon.

Griffiths travelled to the Midlands this week to discuss his future at Wolverhampton following the sacking of manager Dean Saunders after the club's relegation from the Championship.

Uncertainty surrounds the 22-year-old's future in the wake of Saunders' departure. Fenlon believes Griffiths remains keen to stay at Easter Road but decision may not be his to make. While his contract expires this month, Wolves have an option to extend it for a further year.

Fenlon added: "We have regular chats and in fairness to Leigh he is a clued-in boy. I think people maybe don't give him credit for that. He wants to play in a Hibs shirt and he has said he would like to stay but it is out of our hands.

"He was down there [at Wolves] but he certainly knows where we stand. We would love him to stay but if he doesn't then we would have look to replace him, as difficult as that would be."