Christian Doidge helped Hibs to a closely contested win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Saturday and immediately set his sights on Hearts in the Scottish Cup semi-final this weekend.
The powerful Welshman took a tumble inside the box under pressure from former Jambos star Clevid Dikamona before strike partner Kevin Nisbet coolly slotted home the opener - and winner - in the 1-0 finish. The winning of the penalty was only half the story for Doidge, though, who threw himself about all day, winning headers and causing plenty of problems for the home side.
Now he wants to take his momentum and Hibs' strong league form into the Hampden Park derby day showdown after another clean sheet in the Premiership, their sixth of the campaign. "The gaffer has been on me and Kev about [working hard defensively]. Sometimes it is not a striker’s natural thing to defend from the front but I thought we did it really well against Kilmarnock. We worked really hard on it during the week and we put it into the game today, and it obviously helped us to win.
"Killie didn't have a shot on target in the 90 minutes, that is a great stat to have. It was a difficult game, with them having an extra man in midfield, but we dealt with it really well. After the start we had, it is a nice opportunity to know we have [Hearts] to look forward to in the cup. We know what it means to the fans and to everyone around the club, so it feels exciting, and it is one that we are hopefully go into and win.
"By far they are the biggest [games of my career]. They are the most exciting games to play in, a local derby. When I first came up here I didn’t realise how big an occasion it was. It’s a game that everyone wants to play in. It’s really exciting, and to play at Hampden in a semi-final of the Scottish Cup is massive in your career, so its something we’re all looking forward to."
Doidge is yet to open his scoring account for Jack Ross in the Edinburgh derby but he's desperate to ensure that whether it's him on the score sheet or not against the Jambos, someone in green and white can be the hero on the day. "I’ve played two games, then I came off the bench in the next one, but didn’t get a goal, disappointingly," he added.
"Listen, it would be great to score against them. It’s a massive game and you want to score in the big ones. It would mean a lot to me, and obviously the team, because it would them to win, which is the most important thing."
Hibs had the majority of the play at Rugby Park on Saturday with the likes of Doidge, Nisbet and Joe Newell in particular impressing. The penalty before the half-hour mark was not the only opportunity the visitors created on a day they could, and perhaps should, have won more convincingly.
Newell leathered a volley just wide of the mark in the first-half but it was the flurry of missed chances in the second that will have been the main source of frustration. Paul McGinn and Stephen Mallan both fired shots wide when they should have at least hit the target.
They were almost caught cold when Greg Kiltie had an effort hooked off the line, but it looked like it was perhaps trickling just wide of the post when Lewis Stevenson cleared.
Killie's main grievance on the full-time whistle was that the penalty conceded by Dikamona - who had to eventually be stretchered off with a painful looking foot injury - started outside the box. Manager Alex Dyer was gutted after having his suspicions confirmed on second viewing, and defender Calum Waters was also less than convinced it was a penalty. "I didn’t have a great view of it but a few of the boys said it was outside the box," he said.
"I think it was definitely a foul but whether it was outside or inside was the big decision. It is one one that has went against us and cost us, unfortunately."
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