New Boy Faces Old Hand In Edinburgh Today

Colin Calderwood will make his home debut today as Hibs welcome Hearts to Easter Road. The new Hibs manager has had supporters from both sides of the capital welcome him to Edinburgh. The former Scotland defender will be seeking to become an instant success with Hibs fans in the north of the city, having had many well-wishers since his appointment last month. Calderwood said: "Predominantly it's been Hibernian fans who have said hello to me. There have been a number who have said good luck and wished me well 'but I'm a Hearts fan'. I don't know what type of confession that is.''

Any new manager brings about new application from the players as they strive to impress. Calderwood has been happy with how things have gone on the training side of things and believes further collective improvement could earn a third win of the season, giving Hibs fans something to be happy about. He said: "We've got to make sure we know what our individual and unit jobs are and try to get a result that we're all after and put a smile on all Hibernian faces on Sunday afternoon. The more time you spend with them (the squad), the better you understand them. You can see there's an edge to them and it must be because the Hearts game is coming up. They're very willing to impress and work hard in training.''

Colin Nish remains a doubt for the game as he suffered an ankle injury in scoring during the 4-2 loss at Aberdeen and missed last Saturday's 1-0 loss at Dundee United. David Wotherspoon should be fit to return after missing out at Tannadice, with Graham Stack (back), Darryl Duffy (metatarsal) and Merouane Zemmama (knee) still out.

Hearts manager Jim Jefferies is confident of a positive return to form from his side, believing his players should need no extra motivation to respond to last week's setback against Kilmarnock. Hearts were distinctly second best last Sunday and missed the chance to climb into third place in the SPL. An unchanged side saw a two-game winning run ended by Killie. however, with the next game against city rivals, Jefferies believes that is motivation enough for his side. He said: "We had a word on Monday and that was the end of it - pretty strong words, but there's no point harping on. They were disappointed with their display. The same players just didn't perform on the day, didn't pass the ball well enough, didn't apply themselves good enough. By winning this Sunday, that would be the best way to shake it off and it should make the players more determined to bounce back. That's the only way we'll get it right - if we go and play well on Sunday and get a result. What you look for is a response - and what better way to get a response. I've said many times, if you need to be motivated or lifted by a game like this then you shouldn't be playing football. This is an easy one for the managers, because the players will be determined in both camps to get a result.''

Jefferies has lost count of the derby games he has been involved in as player and manager but this will be the first time for his opposite number in the home dug-out. Jefferies said: "It's Colin's first home game, so everyone will be up for it. The first game he had only been in for a couple of days, but the week he had to work with his players he made them much more difficult to break down in the second game. They could've won the game if they scored the penalty, but they lost it. There's been an improvement. Any manager coming in gives the team a lift, a bit of freshness. They'll be difficult on Sunday, we know that. It's only his third game, but it will be a game both camps - managers, players, supporters - all want to win.''

Winger Suso Santana is expected to be fit despite missing two days of training following last Sunday's 3-0 loss at home to Kilmarnock but returned on Wednesday. Jefferies has no other fresh concerns, with Andrew Driver (thigh), David Obua (groin) and Lee Wallace (knee) still absent.