Hibees keen to emerge from Hearts' shadow

DAVID HARDIE

HIBS star Ivan Sproule today insisted he and his team-mates are quite content to live in the shadow of arch-rivals Hearts - for the time being.

The Vladimir Romanov revolution at Tynecastle has captured all the headlines since the start of the season with Hearts having romped to the top of the SPL table, a position they continue to occupy 12 matches in.

Such has been the impressive form of the Gorgie outfit they are being seriously talked of as contenders for the title alongside Rangers and Celtic. But what has been overlooked by virtually every commentator is that Tony Mowbray's side have themselves enjoyed a successful start to the season, currently sitting in third place and with 25 points - seven better off than they were at the equivalent stage last time round.

However, rather than be annoyed or bewildered at being virtually ignored when the topic of who might win the league arises, Sproule believes the Easter Road side are actually benefiting from seeing others in the spotlight.

Victory over Dunfermline less than 48 hours ago was Hibs' fifth successive away win which, allied to Rangers' draw against Livingston at Almondvale, sees them now four points in front of the stuttering Ibrox side.

And while Hibs may trail the Jambos by seven points, Northern Ireland internationalist Sproule feels they are more than handily placed with the second Edinburgh derby of the season drawing ever closer.

He said: "Everyone is talking about Hearts and rightly so but we aren't bothered in the slightest. To be honest, I think it is helping us in that sometimes if you get all the attention it simply brings added pressure. At the moment we are quite happy to be within touching distance, to just keep plugging away. Everyone is enjoying their football at the moment. The fans are seeing attractive football both home and away."

Such an impressive start by any club makes them a scalp for any opposition side and Hearts now find themselves in such a position with Hibs well aware of just how sweet it would be if they could become the first team to beat them.

And along with the three points would come a measure of revenge and restoration of pride following their Gorgie mauling in what was only the second game of the season, a result which immediately had many writing Mowbray's players off as "one season wonders" after they surprised everyone by finishing third in the new manager's first term at the helm.

Since then, however, Hibs have quietly established themselves at the top end of the SPL table.

Sproule said: "Five wins on the trot away from home is a good record to have no matter who you are, I can't imagine many other teams in the SPL can say they've done that. Whenever a side gets into the knack of winning games it brings a confidence which we have at the moment in what is a good bunch of players. Hopefully we can take our away form into our home matches, the secret is to win at home and then draw or win away. Our form at Easter Road is also quite good but we know it's winning at home which will keep us right up at the top."

Sproule is obviously acutely aware of just what a good start Hearts have made to the season and despite the turmoil which has engulfed Tynecastle over the past week with the shock sacking of manager George Burley, the ensuing victories over Dunfermline and Kilmarnock have underlined the quality of opposition the Gorgie side currently present.

He said: "Both teams are on a run, we both enjoyed good wins midweek and at the moment what Hearts are doing is overshadowing the fact that we are playing well enough ourselves.

"But we aren't unhappy at finding ourselves in that situation. The way both teams are playing, tomorrow is going to be a big, big game for both teams and their supporters.

"Hopefully it will be ourselves who win which will get a bit of pride back. And if we can do so and move a bit closer to both them and Celtic then perhaps we might get a bit more attention and recognition of what we are doing."

Burley's abrupt dismissal and the subsequent launch of a search for his replacement has had the whole of Scottish football talking in a week when, in Edinburgh at least, the sole topic of conversation would have been the derby.

However, Sproule insisted it wasn't a topic which had dominated dressingroom banter at Easter Road. He said: "We've tended to close ourselves off from what is happening over there, it is no concern of our's.

"We have our own job to do here at Easter Road. Tony Mowbray and Mark Venus have been working hard with us this year and we know ourselves we are not far away from the top.

Whatever the outcome of tomorrow's match, like every other team, Hibs are aware that it is at this time of the season when the accumulation of points becomes all important, that while nothing will be determined in the next few weeks, points won and lost at this juncture will play a major part when the dust finally settles in May.

Sproule said: "You can now see four of five teams beginning to stretch away a wee bit and if we can keep winning there is every chance we can be up there doing what Hearts are doing at the moment.

"I don't see much difference between the two sides. While tomorrow is a massive game for both sides it won't determine the final destination of the title, that happens over the course of an entire season."

And Mowbray echoed Sproule's words, saying: "It's not about being first, second, third or fourth at the moment, it's about how many points you can get because that's what it is going to be about when it comes to the crunch at the end of the season."

Tomorrow's referee will be John Underhill.

Taken from the Scotsman