Locke: Final will have no impact

Last Updated: May 11 2013, 14:07 BST

Hearts manager Gary Locke does not expect Hibernian to have Hampden on their mind in the last Edinburgh derby of the season at Tynecastle on Sunday.

The Easter Road side dumped the Jambos out of the tournament on the way to the final, where they meet Celtic at the national stadium on May 26.

Locke, whose side have drawn their previous three Clydesdale Bank Premier League games with their city rivals this season, believes Pat Fenlon's side will be focused on battling for Edinburgh bragging rights.

"I wouldn't think the cup final will be in their minds," said the former Gorgie skipper.

"It's going to be a severe test for us.

"The derbies have been really tight affairs, the league games have been draws.

"We had a disappointing result in the Scottish Cup when David Wotherspoon's shot took a wicked deflection and went in.

"So derbies are always very hard games and tight games. I just hope we can come out on top this weekend."

Keeper Jamie MacDonald also believes the Hibs players will leave nothing in the dressing room.

"Being a derby game it (the final) will be irrelevant," he said.

"I can't see it interfering too much.

"It is a cup final in a way itself, to a degree. You want to win the game for your fans so I don't think the cup final will be on their minds."

After a commanding 3-0 win over St Mirren last week, where reduced prices led to Tynecastle attracting a bumper crowd of 16,312, Locke is looking for the same again from his players.

He said: "I was really pleased with the whole team performance on Saturday.

"It was important to put on a performance to send such a big crowd home happy and I think we did that.

"There were fans who came to the game who maybe haven't been recently and hopefully they were pleased with what they saw.

"This is another great game to look forward to. There is no bigger game for us than the Edinburgh derby so hopefully we can put in a similar performance."

Taken from sportinglife.com