Daryl Horgan believes that the Hibs’ players will have to play with ‘fire in their belly and ice in their heads’ to win tonight’s Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle.
Hearts’ striker Seven Mclean is eligible to play despite having been cited by the SFA for his ‘act of brutality’ during the club’s 3-0 defeat to Celtic at Murrayfield on Sunday and Horgan highlighted the importance of keeping disciplined in the red-hot atmosphere.
Both teams go into the game with a number of injuries and the Irishman knows how vital it is to finish the game with 11-men on the park.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Horgan said: “It is not the nicest thing to do, but sometimes it does happen, and keeping your discipline is vital.
“At no stage do you want to lose a man for silliness or naivety or downright stupidity — especially in a derby. The game is going to be so tight that any extra edge could make a big difference.
“To lose a man wouldn’t be a disaster, but it would make it a lot harder to win the game.
“So you have to play with fire in your belly and ice in your head. We have to get that right.
“There is no point flying into a challenge ten minutes in, and then you are a man down for the next 80.
“You just put all your mates in the s*** that way. Hopefully there will be none of that at Tynecastle.
“We need to play the game and enjoy it without getting too sucked in at the same time.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
