HIBS GIVE HEARTS A COLD SHOULDER

Jan 1 2005

By Gary Ralston

HIBS manager Tony Mowbray has called for cool heads if his team are to gun down Hearts.

Mowbray has played in enough derbies with Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich to know game plans can follow the form book out the window.

He said: 'Derby matches can become physical because players forget to play and become embroiled in the passion of the affair.

'We must detach ourselves from that and fight our corner. We must make sure our strengths on the day outweigh those of Hearts.'

Mowbray admits he has been thrilled with the development of his side since he arrived in the summer but knows there is still a long way to go before his team come close to being termed the finished article.

He added: 'We're still going through the process and we still have to develop.

'If the core of the team is here for the next 18 months we'll learn even more but it's rare in football a team becomes the finished article because players come and go and the work continues.

'Unless they play for Manchester United or Real Madrid,footballers can often outgrow their clubs but we hope our young players see this club as the best place to develop themselves.'