Hibernian

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Derby defeats always cut deep. This one will be no different for Hibernian, especially given the dream start and the significance of the occasion.

An early goal should have been the platform, but instead it became a reminder of what might have been. For over an hour, there was resilience and resolve.

The defensive line held firm under relentless pressure, with Rocky Bushiri standing tall - as immovable as the castle that looms over the capital.

The turning point, though, was unavoidable. Two red cards shifted the balance decisively. Energy drained, space opened, and eventually Hearts made their advantage count.

For David Gray, the focus now is on response. With four games remaining, there is little margin for error, and the gap to Motherwell - now six points after their result at Ibrox - only sharpens that reality.

Next up is a formidable test. Celtic arrive in strong form, their recent run of results pushing them firmly into contention. Momentum is with them, and they will come to Easter Road expecting to continue it.

But there is encouragement to be taken. Hibs have already shown they can compete, winning the last meeting at Celtic Park and earning a point on their travels earlier in the campaign. Those experiences should remove any sense of intimidation.

Team news may also offer a lift. Josh Mulligan could return, and his presence has been missed in recent weeks - a factor that has coincided with the inconsistency since the turn of the year.

Sunday now becomes pivotal. A positive result would not only steady the course but inject belief heading into the final stretch.

Matty Fairnie
Fan writer

It's hard to convey the feelings I had coming out of Easter Road on Sunday.

There was definitely disappointment, some pride in the performance of the nine men that stayed on the pitch, frustration at the two red-carded players, and anger at a referee that just would not pull out a yellow card for Hearts unless he was flashing one at Hibs at the same time.

It's a recurring pattern - Hearts avoided a single booking in their 1-0 win in the previous derby, as they did in the 3-2 defeat to Hibs in December, and were able to foul at will on Sunday without consequence.

I'll have folk shouting about conspiracies etc, but I'll just share that in the four derbies this season, Hearts have been afforded 9.4 fouls per booking, while Hibs get just 5.4.

This isn't about blaming a referee - Don Robertson got the two big calls correct by the letter of the law.

Raphael Sallinger's rush of blood to the head was symptomatic of the nervy start Hibs made. Unforced error after unforced error blighted our play yet we found ourselves ahead thanks to Martin Boyle, playing his last derby for Hibs.

Boyle was outstanding and didn't deserve to find himself on the losing team.

Felix Passlack's second yellow was also a clear booking, the frustration here is not that he was booked and subsequently ordered off for it, it's that the referee chose that bookable offence to pull out a card.

Where was that diligence for the rest of the game? Passlack can have no complaints, though.

Ultimately, Passlack and Sallinger gave their team-mates an almost impossible task to hold on to the lead and we very nearly did it. I don't have any doubt that if we had even stayed at 10 men we'd have won.

For Hibs, the season is pretty much a dead rubber now - I doubt we'll catch Motherwell and I think we'll stay clear of Falkirk, so our hopes rest on Celtic winning the Scottish Cup to hand us European football.

Ultimately the season hasn't been good enough. Malky Mackay has to look long and hard at the January recruitment and why it hasn't lifted the team for the run-in, while David Gray must reflect on why teams are finding us so predictable to play against and why results are not going our way now.

You can find Matty Fairnie at Longbangers podcast, external

Image source, SNS

Martin Boyle has bemoaned Hibs' "unacceptable" discipline issues after three red cards cost them in back-to-back defeats.

Grant Hanley was sent off in the first half of the 2-0 loss at Aberdeen in the last game before the split, then Hibs had Raphael Sallinger and Felix Passlack dismissed – while leading 1-0 – in Sunday's 2-1 loss at home to city rivals Hearts.

Boyle, who opened the scoring in his final Edinburgh derby last Sunday, said: "It's not great, the discipline in the last few weeks has been unacceptable and it's cost us.

"The boys have to take responsibility. I thought the boys that remained on the pitch [on Sunday] gave everything they could, but the discipline isn't good enough.

"It's going to have to be [spoken about] because it let us down in two massive games that we needed results."

Hibs now trail fourth-place Motherwell by six points with just four games left in the battle for a guaranteed European spot.

"It's extremely difficult now," Boyle said of Hibs' prospects of reeling in Well.

"Obviously, we had to get a result on Sunday. We're going to have to try and probably win the remaining games. We're going to have to pick ourselves back up and go again next week against Celtic.

"We know how difficult the opponent is, they're reigning champions and they've picked up recently. But we have to have the belief that we can win the game."

ARE HEARTS DESTINED TO WIN THE TITLE? 🏆

It was a seismic weekend in the hunt for the Scottish Premiership crown. Are you rejoicing, are you quietly optimistic, or are you chucking it?

Join the debate with Ray Bradshaw at 18:00 BST TONIGHT on the BBC Sport Scottish Football YouTube channel, external to give us your views in the chat. The show is fully interactive, so have your say.

Remember to like and subscribe to not miss it!

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

GK: Jerome Prior - Livingston

Five big saves of every variety to keep St Mirren at bay as Livingston finally earned a long-awaited victory.

RB: Stephen O'Donnell - Motherwell

Having a wonderful season under Jens Berthel Askou. Asked to play on the left and wasn't an issue. Two assists for the former Scotland international, who can easily slot into right-back for me here.

CB: Ryan McGowan - Livingston

Did all the unfashionable graft a centre-back has to do at times to earn his side a seldom seen three points.

CB: Kieran Tierney - Celtic

Seven goals for club and country this season. Another rasper against Falkirk.

LB: Emmanuel Longelo - Motherwell

Unleashed in a further forward role than left-back, but he can slot in there easily for me here. What a player he has been all season. Two huge goals as Motherwell underlined their kingmaker credentials in this incredible title race.

CM: Blair Spittal - Hearts

Off the bench to score what could be one of the most pivotal winners of the season for Hearts at Easter Road.

CM: Callum Slattery - Motherwell

Back from suspension and exemplified the quality Motherwell showed in abundance at Ibrox.

RW: Sabah Kerjota - Hearts

The Albanian was a game-changer as Derek McInnes brought him on to find the path through the stubborn Hibs defence. Kerjota duly delivered, not once but twice. His contribution to the Hearts title push was immense.

AM: Martin Boyle - Hibernian

In his last Edinburgh derby he took his goal superbly, couldn't have caught it any sweeter.

LW: Will Ferry - Dundee United

Hadn't scored a single goal for Dundee United until his strike against Celtic a few weeks ago. Now he can't stop. Great work rate and quality again from the wide man as he made all the difference in the Dundee derby.

ST: Daizen Maeda - Celtic

Like a phoenix rising from the flames, is Maeda rising at just the right time to fire Celtic to the title? Celtic's opening two goals came from his tenacity and pressing, and their third - Maeda's second - was instinctive striker play.

Hibs fell to a late derby defeat by Hearts on Sunday having had two players sent off earlier in the game.

We asked for your thoughts - here's what some of you had to say:

John: Considering this could be a title-winning hearts team, they were not exactly amazing today at Easter road. The referee's inconsistency throughout the game needs to be highlighted.

Jamie: Just one more disappointment in a season full of them. A heroic defensive effort nearly brought an unlikely draw, but only after we'd shot ourselves in the foot with two stupid red cards. We have massively underachieved his year.

Ian: David Gray badly let down by two experienced players making stupid decisions. Even so, did Raphael Salinger actually prevent a goal scoring opportunity? Not sure he did. Might have been a yellow card. Hearts actually committed double the fouls that we did and needed an own goal and a deflection to score. Had we kept everyone on the field I'm pretty sure we would have won. Disappointing.

Scott: Not much Gray could have done after the sendings off, I had a feeling Hibs were going to win the game and might still have earned a draw with 10 on the park however a rash challenge from Felix Passlack when on a yellow effectively finished the game. Hearts' inability to finish Hibs off till late on meant the home team were still in the game till the end. After a season to forget Hibs will now probably beat Celtic next week.

Hearts eventually saw off nine-man Hibernian in a chaotic Edinburgh derby to restore their cushion at the top of the Scottish Premiership to three points after another frantic weekend in the title race.

Read the full match report here.

Let us know your thoughts here.

Image source, SNS

Hibernian head coach David Gray: "Everything we knew it would. The start of the game was fast and frantic, nervy. If anything Hearts had the better of the opening five minutes. We were a bit rash.

"We find ourselves 1-0 up, brilliant. Then, we've beat ourselves, same as last week. It's very hard to win games of football with 11 men, especially against the team that are top of the league at the moment.

"One thing I can't fault, and I'm full of praise for, is the nine men on the pitch. They gave us everything, defended with their lives and restricted Hearts to little.

"The goals we ended up losing are a deflection and an own goal. I can't fault the players that remained because they didn't deserve that for what they put into today.

"It was a great finish from [Martin] Boylie, who was outstanding in the game. You saw his effort when we went down to nine men.

"As soon as you're down to 10 men it's difficult, and nine men is very, very difficult. The red cards are both correct decisions. It's mistakes."

Image source, SNS

• Hibernian have won both of their past two home league games against Hearts; they had won just one of their previous nine home Edinburgh derbies in the Scottish Premiership before this (D4 L4).

• After their 1-0 win in February, Hearts are looking to win back-to-back Scottish Premiership meetings with rivals Hibs for the first time since April 2014; this is the 28th top-flight game between the two sides since then.

• Hibs remain unbeaten in nine home league games (W6 D3), keeping a clean sheet in their last three; they haven't recorded four successive home shutouts in the top flight since December 2009 under John Hughes.

• Hearts are the first non-Old Firm club (Celtic/Rangers) to earn 70+ points in a Scottish Premiership season since Aberdeen in 2017-18 (73), while it's Hearts' most in a top-flight campaign since 2005-06 (74).

• Hearts are winless in their past four away league games (D1 L3), this after only failing to win four of their first 12 on the road in 2025-26 beforehand (W8 D2 L2).

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Hibs defender Grant Hanley is suspended while Rudi Molotnikov, Josh Mulligan (both ankle) and Munashe Garananga (hamstring) are still out.

Hearts midfielder Marc Leonard returns from suspension and Harry Milne has a chance of being involved after three games out with a calf issue, but Oisin McEntee (hamstring) has joined Tomas Magnusson (thigh) in being ruled out for the season.

Calem Nieuwenhof (hamstring), Ageu (thigh) and Craig Gordon (shoulder) remain out.

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Image source, SNS

Hibs midfielder Jamie McGrath has been left in no doubt about the depth of Hibs fans' determination to beat title-chasing Hearts on Sunday.

"Even in Tesco yesterday, walking around, we had a few shouts like, you know what you have to do Sunday and stuff like that," said McGrath.

"It's all good, it adds to the excitement going in."

McGrath knows the latest collision of the Edinburgh rivals carries an added edge, but has stressed the need for Hibs to remain focused on the job in hand.

While Premiership leaders Hearts are chasing their first top-flight title in 66 years, Hibs are looking to reel in fourth-place Motherwell and guarantee a second successive season of European football.

"There's a lot of noise around it but we know we have a good opportunity to go in and hopefully take maximum points," the Republic of Ireland international added.

"It's obviously a big game for a lot of reasons. But for us it's the start of the last five games now.

"We want to catch the team above us and we have to make our home games count. No better day to do it than hopefully on Sunday. We've shown already this season that every derby has been a very tight game."

McGrath sparked Hibs' electric start with the opening goal in the previous derby at Easter Road. That game - where David Gray's side led 3-0 and held off Hearts' fightback to win 3-2 - provided the midfielder's best memory since joining the club from Aberdeen last summer and he is hoping for a similar outcome on Sunday.

"Obviously making the fast start and going on and getting a good win was brilliant," he said.

"So of course we can try and approach it the same way, go in with the same mindset. The tactic came from minute one to get the fans right behind us, which really helped us because I think if we took more of our chances it could have been more on the day.

"But on the flip side, we know Hearts have dangerous players so we can't be too gung-ho early on."

The final Edinburgh derby of the season kicks off at 16:30 this Sunday, so what can we learn from the previous three this season?

Hearts have won two, with Hibs triumphing once, but perhaps crucially, David Gray's side's victory came at Easter Road, this weekend's venue.

Both Hearts wins were 1-0, with late goals in each game.

Whatever the result, this weekend's derby will go a long way to deciding Hearts' title fate, but Hibs are still seeking a European spot and will be desperate to derail their rivals' charge.

To whet your appetite for a mouthwatering match, watch all the highlights from the first three capital city clashes this season below.

Defender Craig Halkett ghosts in at the back post to secure a Hearts win at Tynecastle in the first Edinburgh derby of the season in early October.

Hibs raced 3-0 up at home in late December thanks to goals from Jamie McGrath, Josh Campbell and Kieron Bowie.

Hearts made it a nervy end with strikes from Lawrence Shankland and Cameron Devlin, but failed to rescue a point.

Tomas Magnusson's smart 88th-minute strike had Derek McInnes running down the touchline in celebration as Hearts maintained their title challenge.

Image source, SNS

"It's the biggest Edinburgh derby league game in my lifetime."

That's how 34-year-old Andy Halliday described Sunday's meeting between Hibernian and Hearts at Easter Road.

With five games to go, the visitors lead the Scottish Premiership by one point.

Away form has been a problem for Hearts of late, so can their rivals put a spanner in the works?

"The pressure on both sides is enormous," said Motherwell midfielder Halliday, who spent three-and-a-half years at Tynecastle.

Talking on the BBC Scottish Football Podcast, he added: "Hearts are five games from winning the title. The Hibs players are trying to stop Hearts winning the league."

Scott Allan, a former Hibs hero, echoed those thoughts, saying: "There's no getting away from how important this game is for both sets of fans.

"For Hibs, it's a chance to derail Hearts' title challenge, which is probably Hibs' fans biggest fear.

"They're on the same number of titles in their history (four) and if Hearts can do it, you can't see Hibs ever pulling that back."

Hibs, who are three points behind Motherwell in the race to finish fourth, are unbeaten in their past three home derbies, winning a 3-2 thriller in December.

Hearts have scored late goals in all three meetings with their city rivals this season, earning two tense 1-0 wins at Tynecastle.

"Hibs are putting pressure on Motherwell, who have a difficult game against Rangers, so a win could be a big boost," explained Allan, who had three spells at Easter Road, scoring in a 2018 derby victory.

"Hibs have been competitive all season, but there's been far too many draws (12).

"I think there is just so much jeopardy for Hearts."

Halliday lost in only one of the derbies he played in and thinks his old team may have an edge in the middle of the park and up front.

"Hearts have a lot of combative midfielders who play with real energy," he said. "Josh Mulligan will be a huge miss for Hibs."

"It's so difficult to call, but I look at Lawrence Shankland and Claudio Braga and it's hard to go against Hearts in any game."

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Hibernian head coach David Gray has been talking to the media before Sunday's Edinburgh derby against Hearts at Easter Road.

Here are the best bits from his news conference:

• Gray says performances are immaterial at this stage of the season, stressing "it's all about winning". He adds: "The players are aware of that. The fans will certainly be going into it with real excitement and rightly so for what's at stake."

• With all top-six clubs having something to play for he expects many "twists and turns" in the final five games.

• Gray acknowledges Hibs fans would "obviously prefer us to win this game and not see Hearts win the league". He adds: "But at the same time, what we need to do is focus on catching Motherwell. We're trying to get European football. This is the exciting thing."

• A derby victory can provide Hibs with the "belief and confidence" to "really kick on" in the pursuit of fourth-place Motherwell.

• Gray insists form form "goes out the window" in these derby games and "it doesn't matter if you're top or bottom of the league".

• He expects an exciting 90 minutes and thinks the team who settles best will come out on top. "Obviously that's what we're aiming to try and do," he says. "We want to get on the front foot, use home advantage, get the crowd right behind us and try and really take the game to Hearts."

• Team news: Munashe Garananga is struggling with a hamstring problem but Josh Mulligan is back in training, although likely to require another week before he is ready to play.

• On Mulligan, Gray adds: "It's great to have him back in among it at the right time of the season. He's come back in good condition. We just need to build up his training minutes and see where we go from there."

Hibs fans, what do you make of Andy Murray's assertion that he would like to see Hearts win the Scottish Premiership for the good of Scottish football?

Would you also like to see someone other than Celtic or Rangers win the title or would you rather anyone but Hearts?

Send us your thoughts.

Image source, SNS

We asked for your views on which Hibernian player has failed to live up to expectations this season.

Here are some of your comments:

Ringo: I've been disappointed in Martin Boyle this season, I don't think his heart has been in it. That's just my opinion but I will forgive him if scores at least a double in the derby on Sunday and we win, then he will be my favourite player.

Mark: Most fans will no doubt say Thibault Klidje, but the warning signs were all there. Most of our expensive foreign signings have flopped, especially the African ones. We should look at South America for a change. I'd actually go for Kieron Bowie as the biggest disappointment. He got off to a great start, then had a few barren spells where his finishing was poor. We were very lucky to get so much money based on a few good goals.

Tam: Elie Youan. He has made it very clear he does not want to play for Hibs since a big-money move to France was knocked on the head. Whenever used he has been as good as a man short.

Disco: Without doubt it has to be Klidje. He looked so sharp at first and scored some good goals, but has turned into Dylan Vente MKII. Doesn't look like his time in Denmark has gone well either. If Malky can sell him for a profit I'll be amazed.

Sandy: Definitely Dane Scarlett. When he signed every one thought he would tear up Scotland but he has had a absolute stinker time in Scotland.

Ian: Easy one! Klidje. Every single time.

Image source, SNS

Scottish tennis legend - and Hibs fan - Andy Murray has admitted he wants Hearts to win the title this season.

The Tynecastle side, currently a point clear of Rangers and three above Celtic, visit Easter Road on Sunday for the first of their five post-split fixtures.

"I'll probably get hammered for this, but I personally think it's a good thing for Scottish football if Hearts were able to win," Murray, 38, told Sky Sports., external

"Obviously as a Hibs fan there's a huge rivalry there, but it's been a long time, the Eighties [since a non-Old Firm team won the league].

"People are asking me about Scottish football, that never really happens. So there is obviously a lot of interest in it.

"I think for Scottish football on the whole it would be a good thing, but for the Hibs-Hearts rivalry it will be disappointing.

"Sunday is a big one. That is Hibs' chance to dent their hopes - I hope Hibs win that, obviously."

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

There are fixtures and then there is the Edinburgh derby.

League tables, recent results and tactical trends all have their place across a long season, but this is the one match where those things can feel almost irrelevant. Emotion, intensity and nerve so often decide what unfolds.

For Hibernian, recent weeks have offered a mixed return. There have been positives, moments of resilience, but also frustration - none more so than defeat at Pittodrie.

Yet history suggests none of that guarantees anything when their city rivals come calling. Because this is about more than points.

Table-topping Hearts' title push can be strengthened, or shaken, in 90 minutes across the capital divide. And Hibs would take enormous satisfaction in doing the latter.

Hibs players may insist the focus remains internal, that the opposition's wider objectives are irrelevant. Supporters know better.

It is a fixture that rarely produces polished, free-flowing football. Instead, it delivers tension, noise and moments.

A sellout Easter Road will ensure the backdrop matches the occasion. Every touch scrutinised, every decision contested, every surge forward met with belief or anxiety.

For those in green and white, victory offers more than three points. It offers bragging rights, a lift that can carry beyond the final whistle and into the days that follow. Defeat, meanwhile, lingers.

Form may suggest one story. The derby has a habit of writing another.

Last week we asked for your Hibernian player of the year - and plenty chose Jamie McGrath.

Now we want to know the Easter Road player who has been the biggest disappointment this season.

It could be a new signing who has underwhelmed or an existing squad member who has failed to kick on.

Share your thoughts here.