CRAIG HOPES CITY RIVALS ARE UPTIGHT

From Back Page if his remarks formed the basis of Lennon’s team talk for Easter Road tonight.

The Hibees, who sit in fourth spot in the Premiership, could extend their lead over their city rivals to 12 points with a game in hand if they win tonight.

But the Hearts manager reminded Lennon that in all of his derby experience as a player and manager, it is Hearts who have been the most successful and dominant side.

Levein was irked seeing the Hibs gaffer and his players indulging in a lap of honour in Leith after they had won the opening league encounter 1-0 in October.

He hopes it’s the Jambos who are savouring a victory this time at Easter Road and believes his mind games could play a role in that.

Levein said: “When Neil says he doesn’t know what it (natural order) means, I’m just trying to explain to him.

“For me, in this fixture, it is normal we come out on top.

“My view on these games is everybody tries their hardest. You are always just sitting below the volcano exploding.

“It’s who can control that the best. So I hope they are really uptight about it. That’s the way it goes.

“It hurts when you go down to Easter Road and they win 1-0, they are doing a lap of honour and people are tweeting stuff. It hurts but the only real way to fix it is to do it on the park.

“If there are some words exchanged that maybe push some people a bit closer to the edge then that is part of it as well. I think it’s important for our supporters.

“This game stands out on the calendar. I don’t think there will be any other fixture that the supporters will look at and say ‘When are we playing Celtic away?’ or ‘When are we playing St Johnstone at home?’

“People look for this fixture and plan things around about it because they want to be there. I like it.

“It’s a good feeling. The whole excitement leading up to it, the pressure on the day.”

When asked if he expected his comments to cause such a stir Levein replied, with his tongue placed firmly in his cheek: “Of course not!

“Listen it is just one big game, isn’t it? It’s fun.”