Boss lays it on line for under-fire Hibs players

Paul Heckingbottom revealed he has been placing more responsibility on his Hibernian players in training ahead of tomorrow’s Edinburgh derby clash with Hearts.

Pressure has been mounting on both clubs ahead of their first meeting of the season, with each team heading into the game in poor form.

Hibs have picked up just one point from their last four league games, while Hearts sit bottom of the Ladbrokes Premiership table after failing to win any of their first five matches of the campaign.

Heckingbottom called for more character from his troops after last weekend’s 2-0 defeat at Kilmarnock and he hopes the work they have done in training this week will give them the tools to succeed at Easter Road tomorrow.

He said: “We’ve got a good group of lads here but we need an edge. You’ve got to be honest with each other, you’ve got to tell people if they’re not doing their jobs.

“We’re really clear in what’s expected of them but – well, Sunday’s a perfect example – they’re not going to be able to hear me from the sideline.

“They’ve got to be willing to dig each other out, encourage each other and demand from each other.

Meanwhile, Hearts boss Craig Levein remains confident the players he has at his disposal are good enough to turn their season around.

But Levein, who received the public backing of Hearts owner Ann Budge this week, is adamant his injury-ravaged squad are good enough to get back to winning ways and he is well aware of the importance of doing so at Easter Road this weekend.

He said: “I feel this group of players are more than capable of climbing the league and getting us to where we want to get to. If I didn’t think that, then I wouldn’t be here – it’s as simple as that.

“There isn’t any situation where I’ve looked and thought we’ve not got the players to get us out of this.

“And if I did think that I would have told Ann that a while ago. My interest is purely making Hearts as good as they can possibly be and I believe I can do that with this group of players.”

Pressure: Paul Heckingbottom.