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Tuesday 24 December 2019 11:59, UK
Hearts host Hibernian this Boxing Day which will pit respective new managers Daniel Stendel and Jack Ross into the Edinburgh derby dugouts for the first time, but have they met before?
Stendel has endured a difficult start to his spell in charge in Gorgie, suffering three defeats in his opening three Premiership games to St Johnstone, Celtic and Hamilton.
Meanwhile, despite losing their last two games, Ross has helped to reinvigorate a Hibs side which had started the season poorly after he replaced former boss Paul Heckingbottom last month.
Hearts could not resist a cheeky dig at the recently appointed Ross and their capital rivals earlier this month when confirming former Barnsley boss Stendel at Tynecastle.
Their statement included a reference to the German pipping the then-Sunderland boss to promotion from Sky Bet League One last season.
"Having been relegated prior to his arrival, Daniel immediately turned round their fortunes, leading the Oakwell outfit to a second-placed finish ahead of Jack Ross' Sunderland, and securing promotion back to the Championship at the first time of asking," the statement said.
Despite that, Ross actually had the better head-to-head record when the pair met and was undefeated in his two games against Stendel in the English third tier.
The Hibs boss led Sunderland to a 4-2 home victory in November last year before a goalless draw at Oakwell as both sides battled for promotion.
Hearts got the better of Hibs at Easter Road in September as Heckingbottom and Craig Levein tried to turn around faltering starts to the campaign.
The Jambos sit bottom of the Premiership after the weekend loss to Hamilton while Hibs are seventh after back-to-back defeats to the Old Firm.
Ross was previously a first-team coach at Hearts and will be hoping his experience of the fixture can help his team return to winning ways, while Stendel will be looking to use one of his side's biggest games of the season to finally get his Tynecastle reign up and running.
