Josh Campbell admits victory for Hibernian in the Edinburgh Derby would be the perfect morale booster for a dispirited Easter Road squad.
Lee Johnson’s side will be aiming to bounce back in the New Year fixture following their heavy 4-0 defeat to Premiership leaders Celtic on Wednesday evening.
The first capital derby of the season finished in a draw, so both sides will be aiming to get one over on their city rivals to kick start 2023 with a bang.
Looking ahead to the fixture, Campbell said: “Having the derby as the next game is massive and a win at Tynecastle would really boost the mood in the camp.
“The last derby was quite a long time ago and I can’t remember much about it but it was a good game, scoring a late equaliser was great, both teams were good, and it will be the same on January 2.”
On the mood in camp following a heavy defeat to Celtic, Campbell continued: “It’s very disappointing. The mood in the dressing room is very down, it’s not a nice feeling.
“The beauty of these fixtures is we have another big game coming up so we have to put this behind us. Obviously you take the key bits from this game, learn from it, and move on to the next.
“We’ll come in and go through the game, the goals, what we did well - because I felt we did do well at certain times in the game - and we’ll look to take that into the next game against Hearts.
“First ten, fifteen minutes I thought we were the better side, we had good chances and I think we just let Celtic come into the game, grow into it, and they did what they do.
“They’re a good team and they punished us, punished our errors, and it was a disappointing night. When you come out of the traps like that it’s hard to maintain that high intensity and sometimes there are spells when you have to sit off and have a breather. I think that’s what happened and it allowed them to grow into the game.”
Hibs recorded a convincing victory against Livingston in between two defeats to the Old Firm since returning from the World Cup break, and key players returning in attacking areas has given Lee Johnson plenty to think about when selecting his starting XI.
Campbell believes his side has more than enough firepower to get a result at Tynecastle, but he will also be wary of an impressive Hearts side who are clear in third. He added: “They had a few boys injured in the last game, big players, and that’s a boost for us. We’ve got everyone back fit and firing so we’re looking forward to it.
“Everyone knows how good Kevin Nisbet and Aiden McGeady are, they are massive players for us.
"Nizzy was huge for us last season before he got injured and everyone knows what Geads is about, he’s one of the best players who has played in the league.”
