FANS of both Hibs and Hearts will, for very different reasons, go into tomorrow's final Edinburgh derby of the season with memories of this month's Scottish Cup semi-final still lingering fresh in their memory banks.

However, Stephen Glass insists he and his team-mates will be clinging on to thoughts of their 2-0 triumph over their bitter rivals back in October instead.

Tony Mowbray's young side brought to an end their Tynecastle foes' 12-match unbeaten league run in sensational style that autumn afternoon, with goals from Guillaume Beuzelin and Garry O'Connor rubbing salt into wounds opened up by the dramatic departure of George Burley only a week earlier.

However, that remains Hibs' only success when the Capital rivals have locked horns this season, with the men from the east having leaked four goals on the three other occasions they've faced their adversaries this term.

Those heavy defeats have been difficult for Hibs supporters to swallow, the Hampden thumping the hardest, but recollections of such negativity will not be permitted amidst the positive mental attitude demanded by Glass tomorrow afternoon.

"We've had a couple of games that we've had to deal with since the semi-final defeat," he said. "But we've always known that Hearts were going to have to come here and play us and it's a chance for us to win a game against a team that's going well.

"Obviously it's in our memory what happened in the semi-final and it wasn't a good day for us. But the league game's a different game and it's an opportunity for us to get a win.

"We've got to focus on the positives and everything we do is designed to try and make sure we can win a game on a Saturday. There's no point in us dwelling on games where we haven't done well. It's important we remember we have done well against them here. They've not won here for a wee while and we want to keep that going.

"The team played well that day (in October). We fought and we played well when we had the ball. Everything seemed to come together and in any particular game where we play well we have a very good chance of winning, regardless of the opposition. We've shown that against Celtic, Rangers and Hearts."

Even the injuries which have decimated Hibs' squad in recent months and hampered their chances of sustaining a challenge to Celtic, Hearts and Rangers above them in the SPL are viewed in a favourable light by Glass.

"You see the positive of people like Jay Shields coming in and getting a chance," he added. "If you go down and say to him 'it's going to be hard at the weekend because you're playing', it's a slight on him.

"He sees it as a great opportunity to come in and prove he should be playing. In the last few weeks he's done particularly well, everybody is happy with how he's doing. The thing with injuries is it gives other players the chance to do well. Out of adversity comes some good."

Glass has handed Hibs a pre-derby fillip by agreeing a new two-year deal as Mowbray continues preparations for next season.

That the former Aberdeen and Newcastle winger did not even involve his agent in the brief contract talks is an indication of how comfortable he feels in the current Easter Road set-up. However, whilst the Dundee-born player is revelling in the Utopian style of football Mowbray has preached since taking up his first managerial role almost two years ago, Glass believes others will have had their noses put out of joint by the relative success of their version of the 'beautiful game'.

He said: "It's always difficult to compare different situations but I've probably enjoyed playing here as much as anywhere. When the manager came in we were pretty much a bottom-six team and we were getting talked about continuing to struggle because he's a young manager.

"The fact that we managed to do so well last year was very pleasing, the way we played as well as the results we got, and we've carried that on this year.

"That's enjoyable because I think people probably wanted the manager to fail because of the ideal way he wants to play the game. People wanted to see that fail but others have taken that on and followed it.

"You see other teams giving young lads a chance and trying to play a bit of football. The punters are coming back and I guess we must be doing something right."

Hibs fans will be hoping that doing something right extends to a victory tomorrow, just as it did back in October.

Taken from the Scotsman