IT was a pitched battle in more ways than one at Tynecastle and Hibernian manager Neil Lennon heaped praise on his players for emerging with a replay from their capital Scottish Cup encounter with Hearts.
On an extremely rutted and bobbly playing surface, which made for a largely scrappy game, Lennon applauded the sturdy resolve of his players as the current cup holders lived to fight another day.
“We were very good, really strong,” the Northern Irishman after his first taste of the Edinburgh derby. “It was impossible to play any kind of cohesive football so we had to play the pitch the right way and we did.
“We were strong defensively.
We could have taken care of the ball a little bit better in the final third but I thought we were excellent.”
Hearts had gone into yesterday’s encounter on the back of two highly impressive league wins over Rangers and Motherwell but the Championship leaders, were more than a match for their city rivals.
Understandably, Lennon was talking up his side’s chances ahead of the replay later this month.
“I fancy my chances all the time. That was the case in my Celtic days, as a player and manager, and now here,” he said. “For us to come here and play like that against a Hearts side who were rampant in their previous two games says a lot about our team. There is nothing between the sides. We might have a slight advantage because we are at home, but you would have to ask the bookies if we are the favourites for the replay. Hearts are fourth in the Premiership and we are in the Championship and I was very impressed with what I saw from my boys.”
The bustling industry of Grant Holt was a valuable weapon in Hibs’ armoury. While the 35-year-old was relishing the prospect of another crack at Hearts, the Cumbrian centre-forward knows the Easter Road men can’t afford to take their eyes of the main prize of promotion back to the top flight.
“I think you can see today we can match anyone when we are at it,” he said. “The club needs this fixture twice at home and twice away next year. We need to play Celtic, we need to play Rangers. Yes, it’s fantastic that we won the Scottish Cup and that we are the holders, but the club need to be in the Premiership week in, week out.”
Ian Cathro was also involved in his first Edinburgh derby and the Hearts manager conceded that it had been a frustrating day.
He said: “ I think what we saw was a game which was a typical derby. Lots of breaks, lots of stoppages, lots of fouls. The game failed to come to life really. That’s the frustrating thing from our side.
“It’s difficult with the atmosphere and the whole sense of what the derby is. We needed to try to play past that a little bit better.”
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