Frail Hearts looking for fans boost

Hearts assistant coach Stephen Frail has called on his side to repay the faith of their suffering fans by ending a barren run at Hibernian on Sunday.

The fortunes of the Edinburgh clubs could not be more different ahead of the fourth capital derby of the season at Easter Road.

While Hibs are basking in the glory of a first major trophy in 16 years after lifting the CIS Insurance Cup, their city rivals are struggling.

After the loss of key players, the departure of head coach Valdas Ivanauskas and inconsistent form, Hearts are facing a battle to achieve a UEFA Cup spot.

Fans – who celebrated a Scottish Cup triumph last term and then Champions League football – emptied Tynecastle in their droves after the abject 4-0 home loss to Dundee United a fortnight ago.

Now Frail wants Hearts to dig deep for their supporters and achieve a first win at Hibs since November 2002.

He said: “It’s a massive game for us.

“You look at our last game and Hibs’ last game in the cup final and that maybe tells you the frame of mind both sets of players will be going in with.

“But we have a duty to the club, as players and coaching staff, and certainly a duty to the fans who witnessed the 4-0 defeat against Dundee United.

“They’ll be behind that goal and giving us backing as they always do. So we need to make sure we repay some of the loyalty and faith they have shown in us by rolling the sleeves up to get a result.

“Yes, we’ve not been playing well and our record at Easter Road surprises me. But we can’t think about records. We just need to go and start by winning there this weekend.”

Hibs will parade the cup to their ecstatic fans post-match and Frail is quick to praise the work John Collins has achieved after succeeding Tony Mowbray only last November.

However, he refuses to give up hope of Hearts closing the six-point gap to Aberdeen to at least finish third in the Premierleague and claim a UEFA Cup place.

He added: “Hibs have done well, very well. John inherited a good side and they’ve got a lot of good players. They pass the ball and are a good team to watch.

“But, contrary to reports, we’ve got good players and we know we’ve got good players. It’s up to us to make sure they play to their full abilities on Sunday.

“Hibs won the cup and did well, but we need to forget that and try to keep up this challenge for third spot in Europe.

“We can’t say we’ll just finish fourth and that’ll be all right after looking at the turmoil that has seemingly happened at the club.

“Fourth isn’t a good finish, we need to finish second or third and that’s what we’re striving for.”