Forward Martin Boyle is a veteran of 22 Edinburgh derbies and while he acknowledged Hearts’ impressive form, he fully believes Hibs have what it takes to inflict just a second league defeat of the season on McInnes’ men.
“They’re playing really well, so hats off to them, but it’s up to us to focus on ourselves,” Boyle said. “And obviously we’ll be looking to upset them and get the win.
“Consistency is key in this league, so they’re obviously maintaining that. When it’s a derby, [there’s] the famous old saying ‘form goes out the window’, so hopefully we can play our best and get the result.”
When the sides met at Tynecastle in early October, Craig Halkett’s last-gasp strike sealed the points for Hearts, sparking wild scenes of celebration on and off the pitch.
McInnes expects a similarly charged affair and for it to be decided by fine margins.
“For Hearts and Hibs, it’s always the main deal,” McInnes said. “It’s always a big occasion.
“In the context of our season, we just want to win three points and keep the whole thing going.
“Hibs are a good side and going to Easter Road is always a tricky game. I expect it will be similar to the game at Tynecastle – there was nothing in it really and we scored in the dying embers of the game, which caused huge elation.”
Boyle was on the other end of those emotions at Tynecastle and is determined to put things right in front of a packed Easter Road crowd.
“Yeah, obviously it hurts, it’s never nice losing a derby,” he said. “The celebrations in our faces at the end of the game, it’s obviously things that you remember.
“The chances that we missed, I thought we didn’t deserve to lose the game. Probably a draw would have been a fair result, we didn’t defend our box as best as we could and we got punished.”
Hibs have been plagued by inconsistency this season, but are only five points behind Motherwell in third.
“We can definitely relight the season,” Boyle added. “It’s a tough game, it doesn’t come any tougher and obviously the way they’re playing at the moment, but it comes down to us on the day.
“We need to be at it, we need to take our chances and we need to defend the box and we need to fight for our lives.
“We know it’ll be a tough game. It’s an exciting fixture at this time of year. It’s always special and it’s always a nice one to win.”
