Hibs striker Colin Nish to miss Edinburgh derby

Hibernian striker Nish was handed a three-match suspension after being sent off in the 5-1 Clydesdale Bank Premier League defeat at St Johnstone on February 17.

But due to the SFA's arcane disciplinary rules, the ban has ended up being staggered across five games, meaning manager John Hughes has been forced to yo-yo Nish in and out of his squad recently.

Nish, available for tomorrow's Active Nation Scottish Cup quarter-final with Ross County, said: "I think the fact that I miss the Hearts game next week is really a killer for me.

"I got sent off a good wee while ago – there must've been loads of games in between. I think it could be the fifth or sixth game after my suspension.

"I only have a three-game ban so I could've been doing with missing them all on a run.

"But there's not much you can do about it so you've just got to get on with it.

"I've played a couple of bounce games in the weeks I've not been able to play. It's sort of kept me ticking over a little bit.

"But it'd be nice to get a wee run back in the first team. I played against St Johnstone and I was back out last week.

"We'll have to see what happens this week – hopefully I'll be back in."

Nish's spell on the sidelines has not helped his bid to secure regular first-team football amid fierce competition up front at Hibs this season.

"I need to get back in the team and need to start doing the business a wee bit," the 29-year-old said.

A boyhood Hibs fan, Nish is desperate to help the club make amends for their woeful Scottish Cup record, with their last success coming back in 1902.

"It it means everything," he said. "It means everything to fans – not only for myself, but for my family.

"I think it's been the Holy Grail for Hibs for a long time now.

"If I could be part of that, it would be a magnificent achievement for myself."

Asked if him and his family being Hibs through and though meant there would be more pressure on him this weekend, Nish said: "I think most of that will start if we maybe get to the semis or to the final.

"Just now, it's not too bad. We've still got a hard game on Saturday against Ross County.

"Hopefully, we can get through that and, if we can, we've got to give ourselves a right chance of winning it.

"It could be a big banana skin because I think they're doing well in the First Division.

"They've got a lot of good players and obviously this'll be their cup final. We're trying to get to our cup final."

Hughes yesterday revealed he wanted his players to "feel the pressure"

of the club's poor cup record.

"He makes us realise what's expected of us," Nish said. "We want to do well ourselves but we know how big it is for the club.

"Getting a chance to play at Hampden, there's no better place to play in Scotland."