HIBS star Chris Hogg last night hit back at Vladimir Romanov's claim that he feared Hearts would be kicked off the park by their city rivals.

The Jambos owner has said he may not attend Easter Road for Saturday's derby because he fears for his players.

But Hogg denied his side were a kicking team - and was backed up by official SPL statistics.

These show that the Tynecastle club have had six players sent off - more than any other top-flight club including Hibs, who have had three red cards.

Hearts have also had 61 players booked compared to their derby rivals' 51.

And the crime count table reveals they have committed most fouls in the SPL with 585, with Hibs well behind on 430.

Hogg said: "If you look at the way we play we're not a kicking team. It's not us and I think everyone knows that.

"We try to pass and play. We don't try to kick teams off the pitch. It's not our game."

Victory is vital for Tony Mowbray's men if they are to keep alive their UEFA Cup hopes and jeopardise the Jambos' Champions League ambitions.

Hogg said: "This is the business end of the season and it's about getting through the games and doing as well as we can.

"We're fully focused on trying to get as many points as possible.

"The talk about who gets the Champions League spot and the UEFA Cup spots have gone over the players' heads. We're just concentrating on getting the points

"If we don't get the points we need it won't be through lack of effort.

"Every game against Hearts is a big one and with them doing so well this year it's even more important for us to try to put one over on them."

And Hogg insists that a derby win is crucial, with both Aberdeen and Kilmarnock in hot pursuit of Hibs who are two points clear in fourth place.

Hogg said: "If we were to get three points on Saturday it would be a massive help because we have Aberdeen and Kilmarnock trying their hardest to catch us.

"If we play well the points will follow so it's all about the performance.

"This is a chance to get a result and maybe send a message to other teams trying to chase us that they're not going to catch us."

Hogg is aware that Hibs are also on a revenge mission after being humbled 4-0 by Hearts at Hampden Park in the Scottish Cup semi-final earlier this month in what was a nightmare day for the club.

He said: "When you look back at the end of the season the semi-final defeat will hurt.

"At this moment in time it's gone, it's in the past and I haven't thought about it since a day or two after the game.

"If you hang on to the memory of it, it will just drag you down and drag your performances down.

"Whenever you lose a game, the next time you play the team that beat you it become a massive match because you don't want to be beaten by teams regularly, especially your rivals.

"You don't want back-to-back defeats from anyone in the SPL.

"But we have had some hard games against Hearts this year and we've had poor results against them.

"If we can compete and match Hearts then we've got the quality to score goals and take the game to them.

"Maybe we lacked that bit of quality going forward in the semi-final.

"Obviously the game panned out into a poor result for us and certain incidents defined that."

Taken from the Daily Record