Hearts vs Hibernian. Scottish Cup Fourth Round.
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Sunday 21 January 2018 14:35, UK
Steven Naismith is set to make his Hearts debut in the Edinburgh derby at home to Hibernian on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Football from 2pm.
The forward arrived on loan from Norwich on Thursday, and Craig Levein admitted he may throw him straight in for the William Hill Scottish Cup tie against their city rivals with Kyle Lafferty suspended.
Hearts nipped in ahead of several other interested clubs to seal the services of the forward, and for Naismith the move is all about getting back to playing on a weekend.
"The biggest thing is having a goal at the end of the week to prepare for," he said. "To get back playing and enjoying football will be good.
"It's the first time in my career when I've experienced not being involved in a match so I knew something had to give."
Arnaud Djoum and Ross Callachan return following injury for Hearts, but Prince Buaben, and Krystian Nowak are doubts, while Demetri Mitchell could also make his debut.
Meanwhile, Hibernian's David Gray will miss Sunday's derby after suffering an Achilles injury.
The defender could be out for up to three months after picking up the injury in Portugal. Manager Neil Lennon remains hopeful that his skipper will not need an operation, but confirmed he will be out of action for the foreseeable future.
"David Gray picked up a real damaging injury which hopefully doesn't require surgery, but he will be out for eight to 12 weeks," the Easter Road boss said.
Anthony Stokes could miss out for Hibs as rumours circle about a possible departure, but Ross Laidlaw (shoulder) and Steven Whitaker (pelvis) are the only absentees, while Scott Bain and Jamie Maclaren could make debuts.
Hibernian's Efe Ambrose has played down the significance of the derby rivalry in Edinburgh, with the experienced defender set to line up against Hearts for the third time this season.
"We are excited," he said. "The most important thing is preparing hard for the game because we know what is at stake, and despite being a derby, it is a cup tie and there are no second chances so we know what to do to get it right.
"We have played them twice and know how they play. We know everybody wants a good derby but we are not looking at that aspect, we look at it as a football game and we just look at ourselves."
Watch Hearts v Hibernian in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup on Sunday. Coverage begins on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Main Event at 2pm.
