ROB ROBERTSON March 29 2006

The turmoil at Tynecastle could play into the hands of Hibs in the run-up to the Scottish Cup semi-final, according to Chris Killen, the Easter Road striker.

The New Zealander, who is set to take painkillers to ensure he is fit for the match at Hampden next Sunday, said that the sacking of Graham Rix could prey on the minds of the Hearts team.

"The bit of unrest in their camp may be on their minds going into the game, but they are professionals and will get on with the job," said the centre-forward.

Killen, pictured, limped off with an ankle injury in the 2-0 home defeat by Inverness Caledonian Thistle last Saturday and has not trained since.

With Derek Riordan suspended, Paul Dalglish cup-tied and Garry O'Connor now playing for Lokomotiv Moscow, the Easter Road side are relying on Killen to provide a physical presence in attack against Hearts.

"I haven't trained since the injury, but I feel better and painkillers should sort it out," he said. "I don't want to miss the game as I have scored four goals so far and would like to add to that total at Hampden.

The Hibs players trained with the club's youth squad yesterday rather than have just a light workout because they were so disappointed at the way they had played against Inverness.

Ivan Sproule, who is set to play wide right against Hearts, said the players knew they had to up their game to ensure they had a chance in the semi-final.

"We were all unhappy at the way we played against Inverness," said the Ulsterman. "We could have taken it easy on Monday and gone to the sauna or jacuzzi, but we went to train with the youngsters which showed our hunger to do well."

Sproule said the team wanted to make amends for last season's Scottish Cup semi-final defeat by Dundee United and become the first Hibs team to win the Scottish Cup for 104 years.

"I came off the bench against United, but I had come from playing in front of 2000 people to nearly 60,000 and maybe that came too soon for me," he said. "This year I have scored in every round of the cup so far and want to keep up that record against Hearts."

Sproule realises the Easter Road side have a great chance of lifting the Scottish Cup and does not want to let the fans down with a below-par performance at Hampden.

"Everybody knows this is our big chance and maybe this is the time for me," said Sproule. "I grew up following Rangers and knew the Old Firm rivalry, but I was quite surprised at the atmosphere in the Edinburgh derby as well.

"Sunday will be a difficult game and I think an odd goal will decide it. I realise the expectation levels are high and hopefully we can deliver."

Meanwhile, Easter Road manager Tony Mowbray refused to be drawn into the controversy over whether Hearts midfielder Rudi Skacel had dived against Falkirk. He did, though, make it clear he would not tolerate such behaviour from his players.

The Hibs manager also believes Sunday's referee Stuart Dougal has the experience to handle a match with the potential to boil over. "I'm sure the officials will be strong," said Mowbray, who added that he had not seen Skacel's alleged diving.

Of the cup semi-final, he added: "The officials are not something I would normally comment on but they will be aware of the potential for it to be an explosive game and I'm sure they will handle it with the professionalism we expect."

Mowbray said he did not expect his team to try cheat and it was up to the manager to lay down the law to his players. "When you see something you don't like you mention it to them and they realise it is something you don't want to see again."

He also said his talented full-backs Steven Whittaker and David Murphy had signed new long-term contracts. The latter has agreed to an extension which keeps him at the club until 2010 while Whittaker's new deal takes him to 2011. Brown, Kevin Thomson and Ivan Sproule have also signed long-term contracts.

"We cannot let the situation with Ian Murray and the potential with Derek Riordan to walk away at the end of their contracts to become the norm," said Mowbray.

"You cannot have such talent walking away after spending so many years developing them and turning them into good players."

Hearts were last night given a triple defensive tonic for the semi-final with Steven Pressley, Andy Webster and Robbie Neilson all set to be fit.

Pressley had three stitches inserted in a head wound at half-time in Saturday's 2-1 win at Falkirk and was forced off five minutes into the second half. But the club skipper is likely to return to training this morning.

Webster, meanwhile, who missed the win at Westfield due with a stomach bug, is now back to full health. Neilson, who limped off in the same game after 82 minutes with an ankle injury, remains a concern but assistant coach John McGlynn is confident he will also be fit.

Taken from the Herald