No escaping the derby 'noise' for McGrath

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 and 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 the hearts of dangerous players going your way so we can't be too gung-ho early on."

[BBC]