The balance of football power in Edinburgh is slipping from Hearts grasp and being taken on by their old rivals Hibs, winners of the CIS Cup. That does not mean that today's meeting between the two clubs is a foregone conclusion. Hearts will be determined to take the shine of Hibs recent performances and win back the bragging rights for their fans. Hearts assistant coach Stephen Frail watched as fans left Tynecastle in their droves after the abject 4-0 home loss to Dundee United a fortnight ago. Now is pay back time to the fans and what better way than to beat Hibs at Easter Road. Hearts have not won in Leith November 2002 and Frail wants change that. He said: "It's a massive game for us. You look at our last game and Hibs' last game in the cup final and that maybe tells you the frame of mind both sets of players will be going in with. But we have a duty to the club, as players and coaching staff, and certainly a duty to the fans who witnessed the 4-0 defeat against Dundee United. They'll be behind that goal and giving us backing as they always do. So we need to make sure we repay some of the loyalty and faith they have shown in us by rolling the sleeves up to get a result. Yes, we've not been playing well and our record at Easter Road surprises me. But we can't think about records. We just need to go and start by winning there this weekend."
Just to make sure nobody forgets who won this years CIS Cup, Hibs plan to parade the trophy to their fans after the game. Although Frail is quick to praise the work John Collins has achieved after succeeding Tony Mowbray only last November, he wants to put a damper on the home side's celebrations. He refuses to give up hope of Hearts closing the six-point gap to Aberdeen to at least finish third in the Premierleague and claim a UEFA Cup place. He added: "Hibs have done well, very well. John inherited a good side and they've got a lot of good players. They pass the ball and are a good team to watch. But, contrary to reports, we've got good players and we know we've got good players. It's up to us to make sure they play to their full abilities on Sunday. Hibs won the cup and did well, but we need to forget that and try to keep up this challenge for third spot in Europe. We can't say we'll just finish fourth and that'll be all right after looking at the turmoil that has seemingly happened at the club. Fourth isn't a good finish, we need to finish second or third and that's what we're striving for."
