Spoiling their rivals’ ambitions of reaching the Champions League is not Hibernian’s motivation, but they need it to happen all the same. Mowbray’s side, who stand in fourth place in the Bank of Scotland Premierleague with just four games left, can still qualify for the Uefa Cup, although their elimination from the Tennent’s Scottish Cup three weeks ago by Hearts at Hampden Park means that matters have been taken out of their own hands.

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Hibernian must hold off Kilmarnock for fourth spot and also hope that Hearts are overhauled by Rangers in the league but then go on to win the Scottish Cup final on May 13, otherwise Gretna will claim the other Uefa Cup place as cup runners-up, instead of the fourth-placed side.

Mowbray knows that such a complicated scenario merely makes the last Edinburgh league derby of the season the biggest of all. “We need Hearts to get overhauled in second position as the benefit for us would be that the fourth spot would carry a European place,” the manager said.

“We can’t influence games we are not involved in and this is one where we can affect their result and also give ourselves a lift. We’ve got four games to go and we have to pick up as many points as we can and then hope that the results of games we’re not involved in go our way.

“Hearts may perceive that they need to win the game to stay ahead of Rangers, but we need to win because it’s a derby game.

“No matter where you are in the league or what you are challenging for, there is always pride at stake and that never changes. We had a good result against them earlier in the season so we’ll be striving to get another one. It will be a hotly contested game and one that we want to win for our supporters.”

Mowbray will have to make a last-minute decision on the fitness of Kevin Thomson, the midfield player, after he limped out of their 1-1 draw with Celtic on Sunday. The 21-year-old was replaced by Dean Shiels after 70 minutes at Celtic Park and has yet to train this week.

With Scott Brown, Michael Stewart and Guillaume Beuzelin already sidelined with injuries, the loss of Thomson would be a big blow to Hibernian’s hopes of beating Hearts this weekend.

“Kevin has a tight calf with a bit of bruising, so it doesn’t look as though it’s a strain or a tear,” Mowbray said. “It looks more like a kick but it’s still causing him a wee bit of pain and it’s one that we’ll watch. It will probably be later in the week before we make a decision on him, although we are hopeful that he will be fit.”

Hearts also have injury doubts over Steven Pressley, the central defender, and Jose Goncalvez. That could see Christophe Berra, the Scotland under-21 player, given the job. Berra has already had a taste of derby action this season, having played the full 90 minutes of the 4-1 win over Hibernian at Tynecastle in January and, in the absence of Pressley with a head knock this month, he also started in the game away to Celtic.

The youngster scored his first goal for Hearts in the 2-0 win over Kilmarnock at the weekend and his assured display did enough to impress Valdas Ivanauskas, the interim coach.

“I thought Christophe played a good game against Kilmarnock,” Ivanauskas said. “We had one or two injuries and he did a good job. He is just a young boy but we do rate him and we are looking at him every day in training, so there is a possibility that he will be involved against Hibs.

“Steven has not trained but I hope that he will be ready for the weekend. If not, we have a big, quality squad. Christophe and Ibrahim Tall both did very well and it is good for Hearts, a big plus, that we can call on these types of players and are able to rotate our squad when we need to.”

Ivanauskas believes that a winning mentality has developed this season and helped to put Hearts in the driving seat for a place in the Champions League qualifiers. The Hearts coach has been delighted by the way in which the players at Tynecastle have gelled this season, despite the number of foreign players who have been drafted in.

“We play until we win every game and that is good because we need to have the winning mentality if we are to have success,” he said. “We have so many foreign players that it could have been difficult mentally, but everyone is working hard and coming together as a team.

“They understand what we are trying to do. It was very important for us to get three points against Kilmarnock and also it was very important after the Dunfermline game to put in another good performance. The players are working very hard for one another and I am very happy with that.”

However, Ivanauskas will not be able to influence his men in the derby. He will be forced to sit in the stand at Easter Road as he has been handed a two-match touchline ban after being sent to the stand at Celtic Park a fortnight ago for protesting a decision not to award Hearts a penalty.

Taken from timesonline.co.uk