Top line summary

  • Hearts facing 'a different Hibs team'
  • Confident new signings can handle derby pressure
  • 'Match winners' in the team starting to gel
  • Ready for Shankland threat

Nick Montgomery spoke to the media ahead of Wednesday's Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle. Here's everything the Hibs manager had to say...

Where does that comeback last time at Tynecastle rank in your tenure so far?

"It was one of my first games at the club. I am no stranger to derbies, I knew what the derby would be about and in the first half they started better than us which is why we had to come back in the second half, but I thought the second half, once we got back into the game, it looked like we were going to go on and win the game. Probably in the end a point was a fair result. But I loved the atmosphere, loved the passion. These are the games as a player and coach you want to be involved in. No one game defines your season that’s for sure, but it is a great opportunity to give the fans something to shout about, which is really important in that context."

What have you learned about Hearts since then?

"They are a good team, they have a lot of really good individuals and they have a really strong squad. They have one of the best strikers in the competition who I don’t think anyone can deny has been one of the most in form strikers in the league with his goals, and goals change games. And yes, he has got them a lot of points late on in games and by being clinical, and that’s what every team wants. He's had a really good season."

Is this a different Hibs team that Hearts are facing this time?

"It is a different Hibs team. The fact is for a lot of the season we did not really have a big squad, we were hampered by a lot of injuries. Even when I came into the club I think there were five long term injuries out from the first team and after that last game we lost a lot of players to international duty. Since everyone has come back and the January window, when we made seven signings and seven moved out, for sure it is a different proposition. I think we brought a lot of quality into the front third. You need to score goals  to win games of football and that’s something we worked really  hard to do. Backing from the football board and the Gordon family allowed me to make changes and it probably was quite drastic in terms of seven players – I don’t think there’s many teams who have brought seven players in and moved seven out, but I thought it was necessary. It has given us a real good chance to finish the season strongly."

Are the attacking players you've brought in now starting to find their groove?

"Emiliano has come in and scored goals and so has Myziane but it was always a case of bringing players in in January and it is very hard to bring players in that are playing week in and week out, unless you are buying a player and a club is willing to cash in on a player before they leave on a free transfer at the end of the season. That does not happen often and we were not in a position to do that. But we were in a position to be a big club and attract good quality players by speaking to them about the club and the project and getting them to buy into it. They will always take a couple of weeks to gel and get into full training and understand the league and their teammates but I think you can see that now in the last couple of weeks that the quality of the players we have brought in means we have some real match winners. They have come for the right reasons either to get their careers back on track or No 1, they want to come to Hibs to put that shirt on and wear that badge with pride and come and help the team to finish the season in the best possible position we can."

Is it giving you a headache over selection now?

"It’s a good headache. We went through a long period when I was relying on the same players week in, week out and then we had a lot of young players coming in. But these are the headaches you want as a coach and at a club like Hibs you need a good squad where there is competition for places. I have been in football my whole life, if you want to be successful you have to have competition for places and I think we have created that over the last couple of weeks."

What can you learn about how a player reacts to the atmosphere and pressure of this fixture?

“Look, there’s players who have come in [who have played in big atmospheres]. Myziane has scored for his national team against Ghana in front of 100,000 people. Marcondes scored the winner in the play-off final, the biggest game in English football in terms of promoting a team to the Premier League. I don’t need to tell them. They know all about it. When you walk the streets, you hear people talking about the derby, so you always learn how to deal with emotion – and there is a lot of emotion in it.

READ MORE: How Myziane's brilliance inspired Hibs' victory over Dundee

“But it’s a game of football, and what you can’t do is get carried away with that emotion. You saw that in the last two games, there’s been a lot of frantic periods but whenever it settles down you see both teams’ identity come into play. You can’t play frantic for 90 minutes. You learn a lot about the staff and the team, and what I learned was at Tynecastle we came back from 2-0 down, the first time the club has done that for four-and-a-half years. I learned a lot about the players’ character that night. In the derby at home, I don’t think we got the result our performance deserved. But now this is another opportunity, and we will go there full of confidence and hopefully continue this momentum."

Are you making special plans for Lawrence Shankland, or is it counterproductive to focus too much on one player?

“We pay attention to ourselves, but they have good individuals – not just Lawrence Shankland. He’s been a focal point for them, and the stats tell you that you have to keep him quiet. But the defenders know that. There’s some good strikers in this league, so what you can’t do is give any time and space in the box to players that can punish you. It’s about us, we always focus on ourselves but still give respect to the opposition."

Did it make a difference, defensively, having Rocky back in the team at the weekend?

“Rocky was outstanding at the weekend. He’s improved a lot since I came to the club, we went through a strong period that got us up the table, and Rocky and Will were a solid partnership. To have Rocky missing for two months was difficult – and in that two months he didn’t play one minute of football. As a coach, that’s worrying but when he came back he was in good shape. I asked if he was ready to play at the weekend… you talk about character, to come straight back in and put in a performance like that was really pleasing. It will help Rocky build his confidence. We have to build his game-time back up, but the good thing is we have strength in depth now. For a long period, we only had one centre-back, and now we have three or four jostling for two positions. I’m really happy for Rocky and glad that he’s back. Apart from a few injuries, we’re pretty much at full strength."

Is the points gap between the teams a fair barometer of which each is at? It must be frustrating...

“It’s a frustration because it’s a big gap. It’s something I’m not happy about, and I know the supporters aren’t happy about it. But the facts are they’ve had a real strong squad and a good run. We went through a difficult period before we lost all the players. If we’d got the result in that last derby we’d have gone one point behind them. It shows that, in the last couple of months, they’ve been in really form and won a lot of games. We had a tough period, but I can’t change the facts. What we can do is fight for every point. There’s 21 points to play for between now and the split, we can try and win every point that we can, starting tomorrow."