IAN MURRAY has admitted he'd be rubbing his hands in delight if he was a Hearts player contemplating Thursday night's visit from Mixu Paatelainen's threadbare Hibs squad.
Already without skipper Rob Jones, midfield powerhouse Sol Bamba and striker Colin Nish, with each be completing a two-match ban, Easter Road boss Paatelainen has found his squad stretched even further by a possible suspension for Chris Hogg.
Whil
e Hibs have appealed the red card flashed at the defender during Saturday's defeat by Dundee United, it's by no means certain Hogg will be available for the trip to Tynecastle.
And further complicating Paatelainen's thoughts are injuries to goalkeeper Grzegorz Szamotulski, midfield star Denes Rosa and full-back David van Zanten, meaning Hibs could be without seven first-choice players.
Murray, of course, knows full well that Tynecastle provides an intimidating welcome for any visiting team, never mind Hearts' arch-rivals with the Jambos fans certain to be in full cry at the thought of their near-neighbours being so vastly under-strength.
He said: "To be honest, if I was Hearts I would be rubbing my hands at the prospect of us missing our two first-choice centre-halves and our target man up front.
"If Chris misses out it means someone else will come in but ideally you'd want Hoggy back on the pitch, he's been a big player for us and we are already missing a lot of height."
Murray acknowledged that Paatelainen could use his versatility by turning to him to form a makeshift partnership with French youngster Steven Thicot – who deputised for Jones against United – but admitted both he and his boss would probably prefer him in the middle of the park where, without Bamba, Hibs would already be missing a physical presence.
Recalling that his last match in that position – he's more commonly been deployed at left-back and in midfield – was against Morton in the Cooperative Insurance Cup some eight months ago, Murray said: "Hearts are a strong, physical side and ideally I would rather be paying midfield.
"But the manager's hand might be forced, you cannot get away from it. I think the manager would want Hoggy in there rather than myself but I will just have to get on with it if that's what he decides to do."
Simply getting on with it will be the battle cry for those players who are at Paatelainen's disposal with the Finn hopeful Van Zanten will be ready and, of course, that referee Stevie O'Reilly agrees with the generally held view that the red card administered to Hogg was excessive.
Murray said: "All we can do is regroup, get ourselves together and show that we do not have to rely on these players."
Like Murray, Paatelainen conceded Hibs will face the same problems in Gorgie as they did against United, namely a lack of height thanks to the loss of his three tallest players, Jones, Bamba and Nish.
He said: "Dundee United are a big, tall, aggressive side and we were missing big players who have been fantastic for us all season. It makes it all the more difficult against United who deliver great balls from set-pieces and attack the ball well as they have plenty of height and aggression.
"That's their asset and they score a lot of goals from it. Hearts, too, are a big physical side, a strong team with some fantastic individuals.
"But we beat them the last time and hopefully we can to it again."
To that end the Hibs fans who do make the journey to Tynecastle are likely to do so more in hope than expectation although Paatelainen will be looking for a performance more akin to that his side produced against Rangers a fortnight ago than Saturday's display.
He said: "We were not as sharp as we have been recently, that was the difference between the Rangers game and the United one. We knew United were dangerous from set-pieces and the like but nevertheless it was still disappointing to lose the first goal from a corner when we were caught on our heels a bit and reacted too slowly to the second ball.
"Perhaps the mindset of some players was that we had no chance of qualifying for Europe – although I'd hate to think so.
"Had we got the three points we would have been right in the mix and we did go with a positive formation, two strikers and two wingers and went for it.
"I don't think a draw would have suited either side but it looked as if we were heading that way until Chris was sent off and David was still off receiving treatment when they scored.
"The game was in the balance, both teams might have won it but unfortunately for us there was the sending off and we were down to nine men when they scored.
"We know we are going to have plenty of players missing on Thursday night but we will prepare for the match, we'll have 11 fit players and it will be up to them to do the job."
The full article contains 862 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
