Barker relishes derby atmosphere as he looks to sign off with another win

It was a derby clash he knew little about before heading north of the border but as Brandon Barker and his team-mates were serenaded by a rousing rendition of Sunshine on Leith in the wake of their 1-0 triumph over Hearts in October, he knew it was one he would never be able to forget.

The winger, on loan from Manchester City, has had a dream season in Edinburgh but says that game remains one of the highlights and as he signs off this week, he would love another victory over Hearts to send him back down the M6 happy and to hush some of the opposition fans who have given him some stick.

“My family and some friends came to the first one and they were just blown away with the atmosphere and stuff,” he said.

“Even I didn’t know it was that big. A few of the boys had said it before but when you are a part of it it’s fantastic.”

Since then, the reaction of Hibs and Hearts fans on the streets of the capital have reminded him on a fairly regular

0 Brandon Barker: Highlight. basis just how much it means and he has loved it.

“It’s been class, especially my first [derby]. That was unbelievable, one of my best experiences up here,” he added. “In the second game, I played about three minutes because I got injured. The third one I lost, which was gutting, conceding that late header. But you step on the pitch and, straight away, you feel the atmosphere. You know how much it means to the fans and the players.”

Having been denied by a refereeing decision in the first visit to Gorgie, Hibs were then bettered when they returned there on cup duty in January. But they got their revenge in the next meeting, in March.

“I was in the stand [injured] when we won 2-0 [in the last head to head] and although it was good, it was disappointing becauseiwantedtobeapartof it, I wanted to hear Sunshine on Leith at the end.

“The atmosphere was great that night, as it has been at both grounds on derby day. It’s always better when the game is at night. The boys dominated that night and there was only one winner from the start. They won 2-0. That hasn’t been normal. There has normally been only one goal in it so it was great to have that cushion but I can’t see that this time, I think it’s going to be another close game. Alloa go into the Championship play-off final for a second season running with manager Jim Goodwin confident his squad are better prepared for their battle with Dumbarton than they were for the challenge of Brechin City 12 months ago.

The Wasps lost out on penalties to the Glebe Park men and Goodwin believes the lessons learned from that defeat, along with a second season of playing together, will help his side leapfrog the Sons.

Goodwin said: “I don’t think the squad is any better player wise than a year ago. However, we have more momentum and feel better prepared for the challenge ahead. Last time out it was my first time as a manager in the play-offs and I feel I know more now than I did a year ago.

“That does not necessarily mean that we will beat Dumbarton but it means we are much more ready to do so. I am pleased with where we are as they have plenty of experience on the field and a very experienced manager off it.”

Steven Hetherington is the only absentee for Alloa through injury. Dumbarton boss Stephen Aitken is hoping the nerves that affected his side in their play-off semifinal win over Arbroath on Saturday have gone. The Sons scraped through against the Gayfield men and Aitken is looking for a morerelaxedperformance at the Indodrill Stadium

He said: “We have a lot to lose but hopefully we have the nerves out of our system now as having them didn’t help at the weekend.”

Aitken is not concerned about the five former Dumbarton players who now ply their trade at Alloa. He said: “There might be a couple of them that feel they have something to prove to me but there is a bigger prize at stake here that proving a former manager wrong.”

Craig Barr returns from a ban but there are injury doubts over Kyle Hutton and Calum Gallagher.