McGinn determined Ross’ men will call tune in Leith

BY ROSS PILCHER always wanted to be a part of it. It’s good to finally get one.

“When John was here they had a lot of good home results – I remember Sunshine on Leith at the end being pretty special.

“They’re all fierce but I preferred the ones when Hibs got the better of them. “It’s 100 miles per hour, especially early on. You hope to ride the challenges early on and then start to play your game. I’m really hoping for a positive result like John experienced.”

Asked if the Scotland and Aston Villa midfielder had dispensed any wise words on how to approach the derby, McGinn said: “There’s no point trying to dish out advice, John knows the best thing for me is to go and play my game.

“There’s no advice you can give, you just need to deal with it when you’re there. He’ll probably wish me good luck beforehand – that will be it.”

This clash is a dress rehearsal for next month’s Scottish Cup semi-final after Hibs saw off Inverness on Friday and Hearts dumped Rangers out a day later.

And McGinn believes victory this evening could give the Hibees, who also came out on top in the Boxing Day fixture, the edge going into the cup tie.

He said: “It’s quite a bit away yet but it’s another one to look forward.

“And if you get a good result in this match it’s a slight upper hand going into it. They’ll be buoyant following Saturday’s result and it could be difficult.”

McGinn was part of the Dundee team that relegated city rivals United in 2016 with a Dens Park win.

Another setback for Hearts tonight will leave the Gorgie men in grave trouble.

But McGinn insists there would still be enough time for Jambos to dig themselves out of it.

McGinn added: “At Dundee it started off with United having a right good team. But by the end of it we managed to put them down.

“That was the official game when United went down but there’s still plenty of time for Hearts to get themselves out of it so there are no comparisons.

“Also in the Dundee derby you walked to the stadium and I don’t think Hearts would be allowed to walk into Easter Road quite the same way.”