HEARTS manager Craig Levein has labelled today’s Scottish Cup showdown with Hibs as their biggest game of the season, but has warned supporters not to expect a classic.
His team have endured a dire winless run of nine matches against their city rivals stretching back to August 2014 and have been knocked out of this competition by them in the last two campaigns.
Levein is also acutely aware of the weight of history. With a string of events planned to commemorate 20 years since Jim Jefferies led the capital club to the trophy, supporters are desperate for another memorable cup run.
“You can’t want to win any more than we do already,” Levein said. “You can sometimes get too caught up in other factors, but it is certainly a big game – our biggest of the season.
“The importance of the game is known widely by all the players, all the staff, everybody at the club and our supporters. We won’t get beat in this match through lack of effort, that’s one thing I can be fairly sure of.
“The most important thing is that we are in the game from the first minute to the last minute, with a chance of winning. We’re at home, it’s important for us that we win games at home. Our record has been pretty good but you can go back through games that we should have won and things didn’t quite go for us.
“We have improved significantly and I’m hoping with the addition of players before the game that will help us to do better in areas we have not done quite so well in.”
Little over three weeks have passed since the sides last met, playing out an attritional 0-0 draw at Tynecastle in the Premiership, notable only for Oli Shaw’s “ghost goal”.
Levein joked after the fixture that “the ball wasn’t needed”, such was the dearth of silky soccer on show. It would not surprise him in the slightest to see a re-run this afternoon.
“For the purist it’s probably not a great game. But if you love seeing people trying really hard, then it’s for you,” smiled Levein. “We didn’t set out to play poorly in the last game. You go down this road – and it happens all the time in derby matches – and ultimately the games are not very good. But as long as your team is competing you’ve got the chance of winning the game, and we have been competing.
“I can count on one hand really good games I can remember of derby matches. Experience tells me this one will probably be much like the last one.”
There is, however, the X-factor of Steven Naismith to throw into the mix, bringing back memories of the most famous derby debut during Levein’s first spell in charge of Hearts, when Mark De Vries ripped Hibs to shreds with four goals in a 5-1 win in 2002.
He added: “It’s difficult to know beforehand how the new players will do. You can only take your most educated guess about who is going to do what in that match. You just don’t know.
“However, the chance to be an instant hero is there - as Mark de Vries will tell you - just by playing well.”
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