Jefferies focused on bigger picture

04 November 2010 15:11
Manager Jim Jefferies hopes his Hearts side will emerge as Edinburgh's top team on Sunday and come the end of the season.[LNB] Sunday sees Hearts make the trip across the capital to Easter Road for the first Edinburgh derby of theSPL season.[LNB]Jefferies returned for a second spell as Hearts boss in January and led them to two victories over Hibs.[LNB]But Hibs finished fourth in the table, qualifying for what proved to be a short-lived sojourn into Europe, while Hearts finished sixth - a standing Jefferies, a Hearts fan and former player, wants to reverse this term.[LNB]"We won the last couple of games but they finished above us," said Jefferies.[LNB]"The most important thing for us is we finish where we want to finish this year and that's at the top end of the table."[LNB]Jefferies is eager for his side to bounce back from last Sunday's 3-0 loss to Kilmarnock and put one over on their capital rivals, who have made a difficult start to the campaign, with Colin Calderwood succeeding John Hughes as boss.[LNB]Jefferies said: "We had an opportunity to go third last weekend after some of the results had gone for us and we didn't take advantage of that.[LNB]"There's still two points between us and third place and we want to get up that league.[LNB]"If we finish higher than them (Hibs) this season then we can say we've bettered them."[LNB]Jefferies has been part of numerous derbies over the years, with a 7-0 defeat at Tynecastle by Hibs living long in the memory.[LNB]Almost 38 years on from January 1, 1973, Jefferies still targets revenge.[LNB]"It was an experience that wasn't very nice at the time, especially for a young player coming into the side," he said.[LNB]"They don't happen too often, but maybe one day we'll get the chance to reverse it so we'll wait for that day coming."[LNB]Jefferies also has many positive recollections of the fixture, including a 4-0 win at Easter Road on New Year's Day in 1997 where Jim Hamilton scored twice, with Colin Cameron and John Robertson also on target.[LNB]Jefferies, though, does not believe his intimate knowledge of the fixture helps him over Calderwood, who not only will be experiencing the derby for the first time, but will be taking charge of his first game at Easter Road following two away matches in his opening two games.[LNB]"I don't see that being a big advantage," said Jefferies.[LNB]"Colin's an experienced manager and he's played in big matches.[LNB]"It's a great occasion. I'm looking forward to it and so will he be."[LNB]While Jefferies is enthused ahead of the derby, he is tired of the ongoing discussion about refereeing in Scotland.[LNB]Controversy was sparked on October 17 when referee Dougie McDonald rescinded a penalty initially awarded to Celtic in their 2-1 win at Dundee United.[LNB]After the resignation of assistant referee Steven Craven, an inquiry by Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan and continuing fall out in the media - with Celtic striker Gary Hooper yesterday saying McDonald should resign - Jefferies believes it is time to move on and leave the incident behind.[LNB]"Dougie McDonald made a mistake and he came out and admitted it," said Jefferies.[LNB]"He tried to put it right, just the way he went about it was the only problem and it's caused this.[LNB]"There's too much hullabaloo about it all.[LNB]"Let's get back to playing football and forget all this refereeing stuff - the game will be better for it - rather than this dragging on for three weeks now, it's nonsense."[LNB]Willie Collum, another referee who has been embroiled in controversy of late following his officiating at the Old Firm derby between Celtic and Rangers, is in charge at Easter Road on Sunday.[LNB]Jefferies has no qualms with his appointment.[LNB]"It doesn't matter who the referee is, it matters how we perform on Sunday and that we get a good result" said Jefferies.[LNB]"Hopefully we get the breaks and the referee has a great game."

Source: Team_Talk