Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Cochrane looking to maintain strangehold over derby rivals
ALEX Cochrane is relishing Hearts’ showdown with Hibernian as he bids to maintain his strong Edinburgh derby record.
The 23-year-old Englishman has been on the losing side only once in 10 matches against the Hibees since joining the Jambos in 2021.
Having tasted victory in the fixture five times – including the December triumph at Easter Road – Cochrane is desperate to savour more derby joy at Tynecastle on Wednesday.
“I’ve lost one before and it wasn’t a nice feeling, but the highs of winning a derby are amazing,” said the former Brighton left-back.
“Seeing Shanks put it in the top bins in the last one at Easter Road was very enjoyable.
“I’ve been lucky. I’ve only lost one derby since I’ve been up here and I’ll be looking for that to continue tomorrow night.”
Hearts have traditionally held the upper hand over
Hibs and have lost only one of their last 13 matches against their city rivals since the start of 2020.
“We know as players how important the derby is,” said Cochrane. “As soon as you sign, you know this is the game you have to win.
“There’s no doubt about that. Whatever way you do it, you have to win this game. We all know that as players. I don’t think we need to be reminded at all.”
Hearts go into the derby bidding to bounce back from a 5-0 defeat at Rangers on Saturday that ended their impressive 12-game unbeaten run.
“We have standards and we knew it wasn’t an acceptable performance, to go there on the form we had been on and to concede five,” said Cochrane.
“Especially when we had been defensively solid this season, it was disappointing. But this is the perfect game to come back to.”