Hearts want a repeat performance

30 April 2010 20:55
Can the Jambos beat Hibs and close the gap on Europe at the same time? Jim Jefferies is looking forward to a feeling of deja vu tomorrow when he takes his side to Easter Road. The last time they met Hibs it was on the back of a defeat by Motherwell. And who were Hearts playing last weekend? Amittedly Jefferies was "raging" with his players after they lost to the Steelmen and the result left Hearts' hopes of a second successive season in Europe hanging by a thread. They have to beat Hibs to retain any realistic hope of a top-five finish. The Hearts boss wants his players to run out at Easter Road still feeling the pain of the loss of last Saturday and use it as motivation to resurrect their Europa League challenge. He said: "I hope they'll be hurting about last week's performance, like they were the last time we played Motherwell and they came out and did something about it against Hibs. Hopefully, I'll get the same reaction." Jefferies, who a week ago described the Motherwell game as Hearts' biggest of the run-in, accepts the result on Saturday will ultimately determine where they finish. He said: "There's no doubt about that after slipping up last week. Saturday you would have to say is our last chance. They're in catching distance with three games to go, so we'll try to catch them. If we don't then we're not good enough so I've got to change that in the summer for next year to make sure that we are good enough." The performance against Motherwell  prompted Jefferies to say he had learned more about his players than in all his other games in charge put together. But, despite his ire, he admits it is an achievement in itself to be within striking range of Hibs, considering how far ahead John Hughes' men were three months ago.  Jefferies said: "Nobody ever thought that we'd be above Hibs. That in itself should be an incentive to have a go because if you get within three points of them with two games to go then there's always a chance. If we don't, we take it on the chin, we're in the top six and plenty to build on." Jefferies also leapt to the defence of Hughes, who enjoyed a great start at boyhood idols Hibs but is in the midst of a five-match losing run which has capped a spectacular collapse in the last two months. Jefferies said: "They got a fantastic start to the season, they've not had such a good run lately but John knows that. What people have got to realise with John Hughes is that it's his first year in there, he's brought a lot of people to the club. If they finish in the top four - which they've still got a chance of doing - it'll have been a really good season for them. Nobody should be criticising him at all." But Jefferies' sympathy for the man he brought into the professional game at Berwick does not extend to letting him off the hook. Jefferies is looking forward to being the villain at Easter Road and said :"Hibs always start the season looking to finish above us and vice versa. John would have loved to have been a villain at Tynecastle, so that goes without saying. If you're a Jambo, you love beating Hibs, and if you're a Hibs supporter, you love beating the Jambos. That'll never, ever change."

Source: FOOTYMAD