‘No fear’ in capital derby

LEE Johnson is adamant there is no chance of new-look Hibernian being daunted by the prospect of facing city rivals Hearts so early in the season at Easter Road tomorrow.

Hibs have been undergoing a period of transition this summer after a grim bottom-six finish last term, with their recently-installed boss adding a host of new faces over the past couple of months.

Johnson and his players face a big test in the second weekend of the league campaign as they host the Jambos, who romped to a thirdplace finish in the cinch Premiership last term and are unbeaten in the last five Edinburgh derbies.

Asked if tomorrow’s game had come too soon in the bedding-in process for Hibs, the manager was in bullish mood. “Listen, we’ll soon find out,” he said. “I’m honestly going into it full of positivity.

“Of course I respect Hearts and the quality they’ve got and the stability they’ve had but we’re in this division to shake it up a little bit and this is an opportunity for us to show that.

“We’ve won the first game against St Johnstone having been in control and scored a 90th-minute winner and it’s led to a good week full of positivity.

“Just like Hearts (who beat Ross County on the opening day), we’ll be taking that into the first 20 minutes on Sunday.”

Easter Road is set to be full on Sunday and Johnson is hoping the home support are in celebratory mood at full-time.

“When you sign for a club like Hibs, with the history and stature of the club, the first fixture you look for is the Hearts game, so when it was early I was very excited by that,” he said.

“The players are very excited.”

Lee Johnson