IAN Black has more reason than most for wanting to help Hearts win today's Edinburgh derby.
The midfielder, who joined the Gorgie club from Inverness this summer, will be making his debut in the fixture if he is given the nod in Csaba Laszlo's midfield. If that were not motivation enough, Black is Hearts through and through, a fan who has
stood on the terraces many times, and a former Tynecastle ball boy whose father also played for the club. And on top of that, Black is desperate to kick-start his career at the club, which has seen him in and out of the side all season. "I've not played three games on the bounce, so my aim is just to get into the team," said Black, who has started the last two matches against Celtic and Motherwell.
Asked if today's game was the biggest of his career, the 24-year-old said: "You could say so, aye. Because it's the derby, it probably is the biggest. Everybody wants to win the derbies. It's my first one and I'd love to go and win it."
He added: "I've heard all about them, the atmosphere and the buzz of the game. The boys are buzzing just now and I'm just really excited to get going and see what it's all about. I've been to a couple and it looks great. The pace of the game is unbelievable."
Black has been forced to play second fiddle to captain Michael Stewart and Ruben Palazuelos in the centre of Hearts' midfield. But he feels all three could start in the same team, saying: "It'd be great to be in with them, all depending on what the manager decides to do.
"I know I've got a lot more to come and I don't think I've achieved what I'm here to do. I'm still learning."
Black, who is happy to continue in the more advanced role he played in last week's shock Co-operative Insurance Cup win at Celtic, would not be drawn on whether Stewart was in good enough form to warrant his place.
The Hearts skipper has been the target of the Tynecastle boo-boys of late but Black said: "He's an experienced player and he brings a lot to the team. The fans are always going to say their piece. But it's how we take to it, and Mikey's big enough and strong enough and knows how to handle it."
After suffering relegation from the Premier League with Inverness last term, Black must have thought that he had left the wrong end of the table behind when he joined his boyhood idols.
But despite finishing third last season, Laszlo's men have slumped to eighth this term after winning just two of their opening ten games. Black, however, insists that there is not a lack of confidence in the Tynecastle camp, saying: "Certainly not. The boys have got great confidence. It's a big game on Saturday and if we can get a win, who knows?"
To do that, they must beat a Hibs side who are flying after climbing to second in the table.
"It hurts; you look up and that's where you want to be," Black said. "We're going to work hard, we're a big club and we're a good team and we can beat anybody. The other day, we beat Celtic; we came up against Rangers and were unfortunate. We know we can go out and do it. We're not panicking too much looking at how far we are away; a couple of wins and you're back amongst it."
