Elliott gunning for derby goal

05 November 2010 14:17
Stephen Elliott will be looking to open his Hearts goalscoring account in Sunday's Edinburgh derby with Hibernian at Easter Road.[LNB] The 26-year-old from Dublin has endured a difficult start to life at Tynecastle, injuries limiting him to five substitute appearances since he moved to Edinburgh in the summer.[LNB]And Elliott, who played 45 minutes of last weekend's 3-0 loss to Kilmarnock, is eager for his first start and his first goal for Hearts at Easter Road this weekend.[LNB]"If you score in a derby game, fans will always remember you for that," said Elliott.[LNB]"It would be great if I could score at the weekend - I'd really love that.[LNB]"It's a local derby and everyone wants to win them.[LNB]"It's a massive game for us and we're just going into the game looking for nothing else than a victory."[LNB]Elliott netted in the Tyne-Wear derby during his Sunderland days, was involved in the Black Country derby during his time with Wolves and played against Blackpool and Burnley while he was at Preston.[LNB]He knows the importance of the capital clash for Hearts fans within the city, with manager Jim Jefferies, assistant boss Billy Brown and first-team coach Gary Locke among the Jambos reminding the players of their role in Sunday's game.[LNB]"I just can't wait for the game now," he said.[LNB]"I've watched a couple of them before on TV and they've always been really good games to watch, great atmosphere.[LNB]"With it being a local derby, everyone wants to play in it.[LNB]"It's one of the fixtures you look for at the start of the season and I'm really looking forward to it.[LNB]"For players, we all know how much it means to everybody around the club and we just want to give our best in the game."[LNB]Elliott believes the fixture is just as important as the Tyne-Wear derby he played in during his three years as a Black Cat.[LNB]"The Sunderland-Newcastle derby was quite a big game, but I'm sure this is just as big," he said.[LNB]Hibs have made an inauspicious start to the campaign which culminated in Colin Calderwood succeeding John Hughes as boss, but Hearts have had an up and down opening too.[LNB]A 3-0 defeat at home to Killie last Sunday saw Hearts spurn the opportunity to climb to third place in the table.[LNB]"It was just one of those games where we didn't get going," said Elliott.[LNB]"But we've got to forget about that game and look forward to the match on Sunday.[LNB]"We need to bounce back and there's no better time than the derby game."[LNB]Elliott looked bright coming on as a half-time replacement last Sunday and could be in contention to start against Hibs.[LNB]"I had 45 minutes on Sunday and I feel a lot better for that," said Elliott.[LNB]"It's up to the manager what he does on Sunday, but I'm really looking forward and hopefully I can play some part in the game."[LNB]And Elliott is not reading too much into recent results.[LNB]"Form goes out the window when it comes to derbies," he said.[LNB]"You've got to be up for the game right from kick off, otherwise you might get caught.[LNB]"There's pressure on everybody going into the game."

Source: Team_Talk