THE teams are approaching the game from different directions but both are vying to prolong their journey in the cup.

The Hearts story last week has been one of positivity with the coup of Steven Naismith allowing them to puff out their chest ahead of this afternoon’s fourth-round William Hill Scottish Cup tie at Tynecastle as they host Hibernian, a club who have been fighting fires over the past week.

The 31-year-old Scotland inter-nationalist will be in Gorgie until the end of the season at least but his impact is something Robbie Neilson, former Hearts player and manager, suspects will loom large over this afternoon’s meeting. Naismith’s fitness suggests at best he will play only a fleeting role, if that, given the fact he has featured in just three games this term. For Neilson, though, his arrival represents a sign of the club’s ambition.

“It is an extraordinary signing,” said Neilson, who left MK Dons last night by mutual consent, after a 2-1 defeat at Northampton. “People talk about Steven coming to the end of his playing career but he is only 31. He is a guy I have seen often not just in games but in reserve games too and I know he has always looked after himself.

“Of course finances will come into play but I would already suspect Hearts will be trying to find a way to get him on a permanent deal. He is a fantastic footballer, a player of genuine international class and whether he kicks a ball or not this afternoon he will already have had a part to play in this game.

“He is an enthusiastic guy. He might look as though he is having a moan during a game but he is one of those guys that is geeing everyone up round about him – it’s infectious when you have someone like that in the changing room. He will be desperate to play, even just for a short time. There is no settling in period. He knows the Scottish game, he knows big Kyle Lafferty and Christophe Berra, so it is just about getting up to speed.

“Whether he is match-fit is another thing but he will be itching to get out. It is a derby game, a Cup game and what better way to go and make yourself a hero? I wouldn’t put it past him to come off the bench and score the winner.”

If the wind was taken out of Hibs’ sails by the tales of partying and curfew breaking during the club’s mid-season break in Portugal, Neilson, pictured below, believes it will have little effect on Neil Lennon’s preparatory pep talk in the build-up to today’s game.

Republic of Ireland striker Anthony Stokes appears to have finally broken the patience of his manager with reports suggesting the striker is on his way out of the club. That was compounded by news that captain David Gray is expected to be sidelined for up to three months with an Achilles injury, a problem sustained during the warm-weather training camp.

Scott Bain and Jamie Maclaren’s arrivals at Easter Road have been relatively low key with the off-field shenanigans of Stokes, Danny Swanson and Martin Boyle grabbing more of the headlines. Lennon himself was no stranger to either a night out or a headline during his own playing days but Neilson doesn’t anticipate any lingering negativity impacting on the team talk ahead of the trip across the city.

“I know Neil pretty well,” said Neilson. “I can say with absolute certainty that whatever has gone on will have no bearing on this game. It isn’t just the manager who will dictate that. This is a derby game. They are always intense occasions. It doesn’t matter what went on the day before or the week before, the minute the whistle goes as a player and as a manager it is just about winning. Nothing else matters.”

This is the third successive year that the teams have met at this stage of the tournament, with Hibs prevailing on the previous two occasions after a replay. The Leith side went on to make it to the semi-final stage last season and the year before, of course, they created their own landmark afternoon when they claimed the trophy to put an end to their 114-year-hoodoo.

Seeing off their oldest rivals and holding their own in the derby meetings – a wrong call last month prevented them winning all three points in the festive fixture – could well have given the Leith side a certain swagger in a fixture they were once perennial underdogs in, but Neilson disagrees.

“It has no bearing,” he said. “No player goes into a game against their biggest rivals worrying about what has gone before. In any case, to go back to Naismith, Hearts have had a massive lift this week and that will have an impact on them ahead of the game. They’ll be feeling pretty good about themselves regardless. I don’t think Hibs have any kind of edge or hold in the fixture. It is up to the players to go and make their mark.”

The elements are bound to have some kind of say on the fixture, too. Snow and freezing temperatures last week will ensure heavy underfoot conditions but it is the heavy weight of the occasion that Neilson believes will play a greater part.

“Nobody wants to make a mistake,” he said. “You rarely see too much football in these kind of games because everyone does the safe thing, the basics, regardless of what you are playing on. Few players will take a risk with the ball in a game of this magnitude because there is so much at stake.”