09-04-2015, 23:04
The last Edinburgh derby arrives on Sunday at 2.15pm. The game is live on Sky Sports for those of you lucky (?) enough to be giving your hard-earned cash to Rupert. Hibs have one more chance to take 3 points off Hearts and lift their haul against them to 5 points, which would be fully deserved over the play in the 3 games so far.
Hearts had a slight wobble against Rangers, but got back on track last night against Alloa. They are still the team to measure yourself against and Hibs have done well against them so far, probably deserving better results than they got. The Jambos will be fired up for this one, as they should be, and have the players to damage a fragile defence.
Hibs defence have been reasonably good, but have the ability to do something stupid, usually through a lack of concentration. Oxley can be suspect under pressure and I'm certain Hearts will be bombarding him at free-kicks and corners. Hibs biggest problem recently has been the midfield being outnumbered and outfought. Subsequently our attack has been under pressure and although there has been numerous goal attempts, all our potential scorers have struggled to find the target.
The other top six teams also play against each other on Sunday, so there's plenty of room for more upsets - thrills and spills all the way to the end of the season. Queen of the South play Falkirk and Rangers play Raith Rovers.
My Hibs team for a game that might be vital to Hibs play-off place chances:-
Cerny (although I think Alan Stubbs will stick with Oxley)
Forster, Hanlon, Fontaine, Stevenson,
Stanton, McGeouch, Robertson, Allan,
Cummings, El Alagui
Subs - Watson, Fyvie, Dja Djedje.
Malonga might be fine for Dumbarton away, but not for a home derby. He would be odds on to attract all the boos after any slight mistake and that must be bad for the team, as Hearts would thrive on the negativity.
Hearts had a slight wobble against Rangers, but got back on track last night against Alloa. They are still the team to measure yourself against and Hibs have done well against them so far, probably deserving better results than they got. The Jambos will be fired up for this one, as they should be, and have the players to damage a fragile defence.
Hibs defence have been reasonably good, but have the ability to do something stupid, usually through a lack of concentration. Oxley can be suspect under pressure and I'm certain Hearts will be bombarding him at free-kicks and corners. Hibs biggest problem recently has been the midfield being outnumbered and outfought. Subsequently our attack has been under pressure and although there has been numerous goal attempts, all our potential scorers have struggled to find the target.
The other top six teams also play against each other on Sunday, so there's plenty of room for more upsets - thrills and spills all the way to the end of the season. Queen of the South play Falkirk and Rangers play Raith Rovers.
My Hibs team for a game that might be vital to Hibs play-off place chances:-
Cerny (although I think Alan Stubbs will stick with Oxley)
Forster, Hanlon, Fontaine, Stevenson,
Stanton, McGeouch, Robertson, Allan,
Cummings, El Alagui
Subs - Watson, Fyvie, Dja Djedje.
Malonga might be fine for Dumbarton away, but not for a home derby. He would be odds on to attract all the boos after any slight mistake and that must be bad for the team, as Hearts would thrive on the negativity.
Cabbage is still good for you