Draw adds to tension for sunday

WITH barely eight days between matches, Mixu Paatelainen and Csaba Laszlo will feel as if they hardly have time to breathe far less think before Hibs and Hearts square up to each other again at Easter Road on Sunday.

But as short as time might be – and the Gorgie boss has the added complication of a midweek trip to Fir Park to consider – you can rest assured the respective managers will be racking their brains for that little bit of inspiration that may, finally, separate the Capital's big two this season.

Goals win matches but that vital commodity has been somewhat lacking thus far, just two scored in the encounters between the sides, a statistic which will probably make a third stalemate the bookies' favoured outcome.

A second stab at progressing in the Homecoming Scottish Cup wouldn't be a disaster and, given the financial crisis which is gripping football every bit as tightly as every business and household, the share of another sell-out crowd would certainly be welcomed on both sides of the city.

An extra unexpected pay-day, however, would pale into insignificance for the losers, the victors not only able to eye the monetary rewards further progress in the competition would bring but, more importantly, the euphoria of having marched on at the expense of your greatest rivals.

However, if a third quick-fire derby is to be avoided and the tie settled at the first time of asking, Paatelainen and Laszlo will be charged with coming up with something, anything, which will give their side the edge over the 90 minutes.

Other than a quick glance at the video tape to verify what was done right and what might have been done better, Paatelainen insisted this Tynecastle clash will have no bearing whatsoever this coming weekend. The Hibs boss said: "We look at the positives and negatives because we want to learn but other than that we never look to the past.

"Sunday is a very important tie, the loser is out of the Cup."

Paatelainen may have been stating the obvious there, but such a thought will send a shiver down the collective spine of both sets of supporters, defeat in such circumstances simply unthinkable.

Hearts, of course, will draw comfort from their recent semi-final demolition of Hibs at Hampden and, going back a bit further, Wayne Foster's last-gasp winner at Easter Road the last time the pair met on the east side of Edinburgh on Scottish Cup duty.

For their part, Hibs will look no further than 2007 in the history books when Rob Jones' goal was enough to send them on their way to glory in the CIS Insurance Cup.

Jones was missing at Tynecastle on this occasion, victim of a hamstring strain, but, Paatelainen revealed, the influential skipper could be back in front of his home fans. He said: "There's a chance, he is improving and the physio is working very hard with him."

While Paatelainen praised the part Jones' replacement Steven Thicot had played alongside skipper-for-the-day Chris Hogg in ensuring Hibs departed Gorgie with a clean sheet, there's little doubt the former Grimsby Town defender's return would add an aerial presence at both ends of the park.

Laszlo, too, will have additional personnel at his disposal, the suspensions which robbed him of the services of Marius Zaliukas and Lee Wallace restricted to SPL matches, but their likely return will be countered by a one-match Cup ban to be served by Robbie Neilson while there is now a question mark over the fitness of Christos Karipidis who left the ground on crutches.

However, it is up-front where the respective managers will be looking for improvement with both sides having squandered chances on Saturday. Hearts will rightly point to having hit the woodwork three times through Christian Nade (twice) and substitute Gary Glen but, as Laszlo admitted, his players were profligate in front of goal yet again.

Nade was the main culprit but while Hibs had fewer openings as Hearts dominated, despite Paatelainen having opted for what looked like a highly offensive line-up with Jonatan Johansson and Alan O'Brien patrolling the flanks, it was the visitors who arguably carved out the best chance.

Steven Fletcher looked certain to score as he twisted and turned Neilson only to see his shot well blocked by Janos Balogh, the Hearts goalkeeper having had a relatively untroubled afternoon with Eggert Jonsson's immaculately timed tackle having ended the threat posed as Derek Riordan latched onto a through ball from Lewis Stevenson late in the first half. At the other end Yves Ma-Kalambay wasn't over-worked either, the big Belgian making three decent saves from Andy Driver, Larry Kingston and Christophe Berra while making light of the intervention of the woodwork on those three occasions by saying: "Obviously we had a bit of luck, we cannot deny that but sometimes you need it.

"To hit the woodwork three times in one game is unlucky, but I am taking it."

Ma-Kalambay, who found himself goaded by the home support following an earlier gaffe at Tynecastle, admitted he was delighted to have marked his 50th appearance for Hibs with a clean sheet. He said: "In a derby you are never likely to have ten shots to save, there may be two or three that will be crucial.

"Derbies are so tight, there's tension at both ends of the pitch. I had a bit more work than in other derbies but I have kept a clean sheet."

And Ma-Kalambay insisted he was delighted to hear the Hearts fans cheering his name, even in derision. He said: "I'm always happy to hear that 16,000 people know my name and, to be fair, they got the pronunciation right.

"But when I play I blank everything out but to come here and hear the Hearts fans singing my name is nice."

A similar performance, possibly allied to a touch more luck, from Ma-Kalambay will see the job half-done on Sunday but while Hearts will feel they should have won this match, Paatelainen insisted his side were more than capable of emerging victors this time round.

He said: "We came to win the match and we are well capable of doing so. It was fairly even, both sides had chances, they hit the woodwork but we also had a couple of clear-cut chances inside their box. But it is important for strikers to get goal-scoring opportunities, do that and the ball will go in."

Paatelainen will also be hoping countryman Johansson can play a more instrumental part than he did on his debut, the Finnish international's recent lack of match practice evident. The Hibs boss said: "I felt we didn't give the ball to him enough but his match fitness is not what it should be because of the end-of-season break he had after the Swedish season. But he is working hard in training, his sharpness will come and in the next couple of weeks we'll see the true Jonatan Johansson."

As for his masterplan for the coming weekend? Paatelainen said: "Hearts are a physical side, we knew that. They are big in size, strong in one-on-one situations. They play a system and do it really well but I believe we can cause them problems.

"If our passing is up to the standard we require I think we can pass the ball around them and cause problems. Hopefully we can do that on Sunday."