Alex Cochrane is relishing Hearts’ showdown with Hibernian as he bids to maintain his strong Edinburgh derby record.
The 23-year-old Englishman has been on the losing side only once in 10 matches against the Hibees since joining the Jambos in the summer of 2021.
Having tasted victory in the fixture five times – including the December triumph at Easter Road when Lawrence Shankland scored a stoppage-time winner – Cochrane is desperate to savour more derby joy at Tynecastle on Wednesday.
“I’ve lost one before and it wasn’t a nice feeling, but the highs of winning a derby are amazing,” said the former Brighton left-back.
“Seeing Shanks put it in the top bins in the last one at Easter Road was very enjoyable.
“I’ve been lucky. I’ve only lost one derby since I’ve been up here and I’ll be looking for that to continue tomorrow night.”
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Hearts have traditionally held the upper hand over Hibs and have lost only one of their last 13 matches against their city rivals since the start of 2020.
“We know as players how important the derby is,” said Cochrane. “As soon as you sign, you know this is the game you have to win.
“There’s no doubt about that. Whatever way you do it, you have to win this game. We all know that as players. I don’t think we need to be reminded at all.”
Hearts go into the derby bidding to bounce back from a 5-0 defeat at Rangers on Saturday that ended their impressive 12-game unbeaten run.
“We have standards and we knew it wasn’t an acceptable performance, to go there on the form we had been on and to concede five,” said Cochrane of their Ibrox capitulation.
“Especially when we had been defensively solid this season, it was disappointing. But this is the perfect game to come back to.
“If you ask any player what game they’d want after a game like that, they’d say the derby. That’s the one you want to play, it’s the one you can get up for the easiest, the one with the best atmosphere so it’s something to really look forward to.
“I’ve played quite a few now and you know the games are going to be frantic, 100 miles an hour.
“It’s important for the fans and us as players. You saw what it meant to everyone after our win at Easter Road last time. We need to be ready for it.”
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