Football focus should centre on Capital derby - Levein

Paul Kiddie

CRAIG LEVEIN is fed up with the focus which is continually trained on the Old Firm derby, the Hearts boss insisting the Capital clash with arch-rivals Hibs deserves more attention.

Despite some classic encounters between Edinburgh’s big two in recent seasons, the match always tends to play second fiddle to the Glasgow showdown.

Levein reckons it is high time the Hearts-Hibs fixture is given more prominent treatment and would be delighted to see that happen with the help of the Easter Road outfit sustaining a good league challenge.

The Tynecastle gaffer will entertain Tony Mowbray tomorrow afternoon in what will be the former Celtic star’s first competitive Edinburgh derby as a manager.

Levein is appreciative of the work Mowbray has done in turning round Hibs’ fortunes, the Hibees going into tomorrow’s clash three points ahead of the Jambos courtesy of an eight-game unbeaten run.

"You can’t fail to be impressed by the job Tony Mowbray is doing at Easter Road. He has got the players believing in themselves that they can compete and score goals at this level," he said.

"He has made a difference and the supporters are happy. It is his first manager’s job and he is obviously keen to make an impression. It is all about results. He is getting them just now but the true test is at the end of the season as consistency is the big thing.

"Hibs have made a great start to the season and if they continue to do what they have been doing then hopefully both teams can be up among the top three or four in the league.

"It would be great to see the two Edinburgh teams getting into European competition as I think sometimes in Scotland we concentrate too much on what is happening in Glasgow.

"Part of that is due to the fact that the Capital teams have not performed well enough to take the attention away from Glasgow. I would like our derby match to have more significance for people throughout Scotland and not just those in Edinburgh but to achieve that we have to be in a more prominent position in the table.

"It is important to me to be playing Hibs when both clubs are up near the top of the league. There has been some brilliant games - goals, excitement, everything - and hopefully that can continue tomorrow."

The visit of Hibs is the third huge match for Hearts in the space of eight days following last weekend’s trip to Parkhead and Thursday’s UEFA Cup clash against Feyenoord in Rotterdam. Both games resulted in 3-0 defeats but the Gorgie boss insists the meeting with the Hibees is the ideal game to come back to after such disappointments.

"It is a good game to have this weekend as we all know the significance of the derby," he said.

"We under-performed in Holland in as much as our use of the ball in the final third of the park wasn’t what it could have been.

"It was a great experience for the players, though, and they enjoyed playing against the quality of Feyenoord. But it’s back to the bread and butter of the league now and we want to try to improve our position in the table by taking all three points tomorrow."

Andy Webster will shake off the Rotterdam disappointment to line up alongside skipper Steven Pressley at the heart of the hosts’ rearguard tomorrow.

The former Arbroath stopper has established himself as one of the country’s top young defenders since moving from Gayfield and it didn’t take him long to realise what makes the Edinburgh derby such a special occasion.

Webster had only just signed for the Jambos when he sampled his first taste of the unique fixture in a goalless draw at Easter Road in May 2001- and it has left him looking forward to every Hibs game since.

"I remember my first derby quite clearly and the atmosphere that day at Easter Road was unbelievable," he said.

"We managed a 0-0 draw after Mixu Paatelainen missed a late penalty.

"The passion of the players and the fans is what makes the game special. It’s all or nothing when the teams meet and is a must-win game for both sides.

"The atmosphere will be great at Tynecastle tomorrow and I remember in that first derby that I could hardly hear anyone on the park the noise was so loud."

Victory for the visitors would see them open up a six-point gap over Hearts but Webster insists that won’t have a bearing on how the Jambos approach the game.

"It doesn’t matter where the teams are in the league when they meet, there is enough motivation to get a result without thinking about that," he said.

"We know it is going to be a tough game and we’ll have to perform to the best of our ability. The match is sure to be played at a high temp with both sets of players committed so the position of the teams in the table is pretty irrelevant."

Levein, meanwhile, was still finding it difficult to accept the standard of the officials in charge of Thursday’s European tie.

Hearts saw Feyenoord take the lead with a goal which was clearly offside and were then denied an equaliser from Kevin McKenna by another ridiculous offside decision. It may be 48 hours since the game but Levein is still irritated by the events in the De Kuip.

"I have watched a lot of European matches, UEFA Cup and Champions League games and I have never seen two decisions as bad as that," he said. "It was just incompetence."

Taken from the Scotsman