Video thrilled the Liverpool star

Michael Ngoo has admitted that he took to YouTube to educate himself about the Edinburgh derby before signing for Hearts.

Although the on-loan Liverpool striker has had new team-mates telling him about what he can expect at Easter Road today, he took it upon himself to research the big games before making the move north.

"The boys have talked to me about the derby," said Michael. "I've been looking at past derbies on YouTube and they all look epic. I'm going to enjoy playing in one.

"I typed 'Hearts' into YouTube before I came. Obviously I'd seen Hearts play against Liverpool, and I also watched the New Year's derby on TV.

"So when I typed it in lots of things came up, Hampden for example, and it all looked fantastic. Especially the Scottish Cup Final. That was a joy to watch. Everything looked positive and everything has been positive since I've come up."

Today's match won't be the first time the towering hitman has stepped out onto the Easter Road pitch; Michael made his Hearts debut in the League Cup semi-final against Inverness, which was staged across the city.

"I have good memories from the last game at Easter Road," he revealed. "Hopefully I can repeat them and the same result can occur on Sunday. I'm so looking forward to it. It's going to be a big game for me, both personally and for my career as well.

"When I came to Hearts, a day before the League Cup semi-final, it was difficult as I didn't know the boys. Inverness didn't know my style of play so that gave me an advantage, but I felt delighted after that game and there's good memories from that pitch and I hope to bring them back again today."

Hearts got back to winning ways during the week against St Johnstone, a result that has boosted confidence and Michael points to his partnership with John Sutton as being key to grabbing a result today.

"Every player went away with a buzz after beating St Johnstone," he stated. "If we carry that buzz and that work ethic into today and the cup final then I don't see any reason why we can't beat Hibs and St Mirren. I thought on Tuesday we were tremendous, from the goalkeeper up.

"I'm happy to have a partner up front. I gave John Sutton an assist to score on Tuesday. Sometimes when you're playing alone you have to cut it back for late runners but they're not always there and you tend to shoot from tight angles so I'm happy that John was there and that I could give him a goal.

"It shows that we've been working hard. We played together against Motherwell and St Johnstone. I thought against Motherwell that our second half performance was fantastic and we were unfortunate not to get the equaliser. Then against St Johnstone I thought we improved as a team.

"I see my partnership with John developing. We're always talking to each other and helping each other. We're working together to help the team, that showed in midweek. We'll definitely be a handful for any defender. I know that the St Johnstone centre-backs will have walked off the pitch on Tuesday thinking 'wow, we were in for a game'.

"Any player enjoys winning. It's a buzz and it gives you so much confidence going into today's derby against Hibs. We're on track. We've got two big games coming up, probably the biggest games of the season. We're going to take it step by step and hopefully get the result today."

Though playing in Gorgie is Michael's first taste of senior football, the England youth internationalist has had some derby experience before. Today will be a different level however, and Michael is just grateful for the chance afforded to him by Hearts, and for the backing of the supporters.

"I've been excited with the build-up," he enthused. "I've been making sure that I do everything right. Hopefully we can get the win today then next week at Hampden. That'll be a buzz.

"I've played in derbies at U21 and reserve level for Liverpool, I know they're very tough and you have to be very motivated to go into them. Liverpool want to prove to Everton that they're the best team in Merseyside, which I believe they are, and it's the same with Hearts.

"I think this whole experience is going to help my career massively. This is the first senior football I've played and I can only get better. I'm obviously young but people class me as a senior player because of my physique, but on paper I'm still young.

"There's always Liverpool scouts here to watch me and give feedback back to the manager, and to me also, saying I need to work on this and that. So everything is positive. They're doing their job on their side, I just need to continue to help the team from my side. That's my main focus.

"I was disappointed when John McGlynn left because I think he's a fantastic manager and a fantastic guy. So is Lockie. But the main thing is to get results to help the team, that's been my focus. It's been very tough, psychologically, for the boys with all these things going on. You think to yourself 'damn, we don't need that', but unfortunately things happen in life. We've built ourselves back up, which is good. We've got that team spirit going and the bond is back, we showed that on Tuesday night.

"If we can beat Hibs and win the League Cup then I'd definitely, without a doubt, dedicate it to John McGlynn. He believed in me. He rang Liverpool personally to ask me to come along and I appreciated that. If we can win these two games then for me, it's for John and for the fans because they've been tremendous."

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