DEMETRI MITCHELL knows he is certain to receive a vociferous reception from the away supporters at Easter Road tomorrow night but insists he will not shrink in the hostile atmosphere that awaits him.
The 25-year-old, who scored his first goal for Hibs in Saturday’s 3-2 home defeat at the hands of Livingston, enjoyed two separate loan spells with Hearts between 2018 and 2019 before sealing a permanent move to Leith from Old Trafford earlier this month.
Having previously sampled the derby, the English left winger knows all too well that some fans will not have taken kindly to his decision to cross the divide in the capital.
But he also believes there’s no better platform on which to respond to the weekend’s disappointing defeat to Livingston.
“I was looking through the fixture list for the derby to see where it was [when I first signed for Hibs,” Mitchell said. “There really is no better game to bounce back. It’s a huge game on Tuesday night. Hopefully we can get a result and play some good football.
“I’ll get a warm reception, I’m pretty sure of that. I’m ready for it though. I’m a Hibs player now and I’m raring to get going and keep progressing. Pressure doesn’t bother me, I don’t mind it. I’m a footballer and we all have to deal with pressure.
“I have had a bit of stick for coming here [from Hearts fans]. That’s part and parcel of being a footballer and it is what it is. But I was on loan from Manchester United when I was at Hearts. I’m a Hibs player now and that’s what I’m focused on - looking forward not back.
“I know how big the game is. I know how big playing in the Premiership is. The lads here have embraced me and I get along with them all. Hopefully we can get a result on Tuesday.”
Having twice taken the lead on Saturday but ultimately going home empty-handed, Mitchell accepts that the manner of the loss to Livi was particularly painful. Hibs had plenty of the ball but failed to really threaten with it – a problem that will be all too familiar to any who watched the goalless draw with Motherwell last Wednesday, where Shaun Maloney’s men failed to register a single shot on target.
The full-time whistle on Saturday was met with a chorus of boos but Mitchell remains confident that it won’t be long until he and his team-mates have fully got to grips with the new manager’s preferred style of play.
“It was a good start,” Mitchell said of the Livingston game. “We played some good football in the first half. But it was a game of two halves and it’s definitely not the result we were looking for.
“The second half never went to plan. But it’s a work in progress.
“We came out after the break. I think they might have changed a few things tactically. But we have been undone by two set pieces. It was disappointing to concede the goals we did, especially one of them coming from a throw in as well.
“But we are a work in progress. It’s something we need to keep working on. Ironing out the little mistakes.
“We are all buying into the manager’s message. We are working hard every day in training on the message he is getting across. Hopefully we can show it against Hearts because there’s no better game to bounce back in.”
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