Hearts goalkeeper Beau Reus will sit down with head coach Wouter Vrancken before Sunday's Premier Sports Cup semi-final to pass on what he knows about Hibs manager Marink Reedijk, his former boss at Belgian club Beveren.
Reus and Reedijk helped Beveren win the Belgian second division last season, with the keeper playing every minute of every league game, keeping 14 clean sheets and conceding 23 goals. The team won 28 games and drew four on their way to promotion.
Reus ready to share tactical insight
Reus said: "We were together in Belgium the last two years. For me, he's a good manager. His game plan is really clear. Hopefully that helps us a bit to crack the code. I will have a meeting with our coach to tell him how he will play, probably!"
He added: "Is it that obvious? No, I need to be honest, I don't know what this game plan is so far. He's very adaptable. He's a young coach. I know he will have some tricks up his sleeve."
Reedijk's Hibs side have taken one point from his first four games in charge and sit second bottom of the Premiership on goal difference. Hearts head to Hampden as favourites after last year's title challenge.
Old friends reunite in Edinburgh
Reus said he tried to text Reedijk when he learned of his move to Scotland: "Yeah I tried to text him because I knew there were rumours that he was coming to Hibs, so the day I left for the international break, I flew back to Amsterdam and his plane was just landing here! So I texted him - but the text didn't come in, and as soon as the plane landed (in Edinburgh) from Amsterdam, it came in, so I knew what was happening!"
He added: "For me, he was great. If you are a guy from another country that plays in Belgium - we are both Dutch - it's normal you have a certain connection. In that part he helped me a lot in growing as the person I am now."
Reus said they will shake hands after the game but focus on winning during it: "We are very kind to each other, but I think on Sunday, we will forget about it for 90 minutes, and after that, we can shake hands again."
Hearts injury concerns
Vrancken had eight players missing for Wednesday's draw with Rangers and is awaiting scan results on defender Rogers Mato, who was forced off with an Achilles issue.
Reus said: "It's just so devastating if you see the injuries we take on. I haven't heard how bad Mato's injury is but you see so many big injuries we had to deal with. They're not like muscle injuries that you can prevent. It's just big, long injuries which are so, so annoying."
He added: "But we'll play with the players we have. In that sense, it doesn't make a big change, because whoever stands on the pitch has to give 100 percent and for anyone who comes on, it's the same story."
