Hearts head coach Wouter Vrancken wants his patchwork side to play through the pain barrier and battle past Hibs at Hampden tomorrow in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final.
Vrancken was without eight players for Wednesday's draw with Rangers and then had to deal with makeshift full-back Rogers Mato going off with a muscle injury. He hopes his team can have the final say in the derby showdown against the Hibees.
Injury-hit squad coping with intense run
Hearts continue an intense run of games in between two international breaks and have largely dealt well with the challenge, with the notable exception of their 7-1 thrashing at Celtic Park. Defeat at Celtic Park was followed by a respectable showing in a 2-0 loss at Trabzonspor, before Hearts won at Motherwell and came close to clinching victory over Rangers.
Discussing the injury situation, Vrancken said: "It's not so easy to do. It shows that they're focused and concentrated because they know in different positions what to expect. They can do it.
"I'm happy to see it as a coach. We needed it for sure in this run of games with all those top games we played already and we will play. I'm happy to see that they can cope with it."
Focus on the semi-final
"Every next game feels like the biggest one," Vrancken said. "So it's always not looking too far forward, but focusing on what is in front of you.
"It's not like you can pick games, you cannot say, this one we really want to win, the other one, OK. So it's not working like this.
"You have to focus on what's coming and going full energy in this. And now it's the semi-final."
Hibs boss familiar with Vrancken
New Hibs boss Marink Reedijk has previously encountered Vrancken from their time working in Belgium. "When I was an assistant, yes, and in friendly matches in Belgium as well," said former Beveren boss Reedijk, recalling games with the former Sint-Truiden head coach.
"He has a very clear style of playing, he doesn't change much about this, so we are well aware of what we can expect. We also saw how he brings it here to Scotland, and this is a challenging way and a nice way, so it will be a nice football match against them."
