Hibs and Hearts could scarcely be heading into this Edinburgh derby in different places to the last time they met at Easter Road.
The first capital clash in this season’s Premiership saw both sides battling it out to avoid being the league’s bottom two after starting the season terribly and ending up the basement boys for a lengthy spell.
Both have sorted themselves out, the Hibees after David Gray changed to a 3-5-2 and started to get the most out of their key men and the Jambos after appointing Neil Critchley to replace Steven Naismith as manager.
Gray has played in many of these games as a Hibs player and knows how “spicy” they are, insisting the importance won’t be lost on his players after he’s spoken to them.
He also told how he will make sure they are ready for the tactical battle against Critchley’s diamond formation Hearts.
Former Jambo Ryan Stevenson picked out Jamie McCart and Calem Nieuwenhof as potentially key players for this game.
But who will actually play? Well, we’ve now learned with both teams confirmed.
Confirmed Hibs vs Hearts team news
Hibs starting XI: Smith, O’Hora, Bushiri, Iredale, C.Cadden, N.Cadden, Triantis, Moriah-Welsh, Campbell, Bowie, Boyle
Subs: Bursik, Miller, Levitt, Youan, Kwon, Obita, Hoilett, Gayle Kuharevich
Hearts starting XI: Gordon, Taylor, Steinwender, McCart, Penrice, Baningime, Grant, Spittal, Shankland, Wilson, Kabangu.
Subs: Clark, Neilson, Nieuwenhof, Forrest, Milne, Kartum, forrester, Musa, Vargas