Marink Reedijk is relishing a “special match” as he aims to belatedly ignite his Hibernian reign with victory over high-flying city rivals Hearts in Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final.
After three defeats and a draw in his first four matches in charge of the Hibs, the Dutchman goes into his first Edinburgh derby eyeing a first win since succeeding David Gray in September.
Hearts, third in the Premiership, have won all four previous meetings between the two Capital clubs at Hampden, including the 2012 Scottish Cup final, and Reedijk has been made well aware of the importance of the derby during his five weeks in Edinburgh.
“It’s a special match in several ways,” said Reedijk, who revealed that experienced striker Martin Boyle will return after illness.
“This is the type of match you look forward to because it’s not only the derby, it’s also a semi-final, and it’s one step away from a final, so that is a double way of excitement.
“You don’t need to ask anyone here about the derby because they will tell you, and this is also the beautiful thing about it. And we have someone in our staff (former Hibs player Guillaume Beuzelin) who experienced a few, and therefore, of course, he told us about it and he prepared us for what we can expect.”
Marink Reedijk is hoping to pick up his first win as Hibernian boss in the Premier Sports Cup
Hibs celebrate opening the scoring at St Mirren in midweek but had to settle for a 1-1 draw
After the joy of leading Beveren to an unbeaten title triumph in the Belgian second tier last season, Reedijk has found himself struggling for results during a testing start to his Hibs tenure.
“It is interesting because everybody recognises last year with Beveren, but in the beginning at Beveren, we had the same sort of spells,” he said.
“The only thing which is different is that I had a start where we had a pre-season, and you could already put some things in place (in friendlies), and here I started immediately with competitive matches.
“But I have been in these situations as well with Beveren, and we focused on the things we did, and trusted the way we did it, and focused on not only the results.
“I know the results are important, but if the result is not there, is the performance there? And if the performance is there, then it’s a matter of time.
“The performances are getting better and better and better, and therefore, like in Beveren, I think if you keep on progressing, the results will come.”
Reedijk will come up against one of his Beveren ‘Invincibles’ from last season in goalkeeper Beau Reus, who joined Hearts in the summer.
“It’s a special connection,” said the Hibs boss. “We will always be linked – not only him and me, but the whole team. Together for the rest of our lives, because of the performance of last year.
“However, since Wednesday evening, I don’t feel this at the moment. It will be after Sunday night that this feeling comes back again, because I want to win the match. He is someone who will always be part of my journey.”
