Joe Newell on Hibs v Hearts: 'I remember diving for that penalty so yeah, probably a bit of karma!'

Hibs will meet up with Hearts at Hampden next month with a place in this season’s final at stake. There is also the carrot of an all-but guaranteed European run next term if the Easter Road players go on to lift the silverware.

For many Hibs fans, though, it is, first and foremost, an opportunity to exact some revenge for the derby defeat at the same stage of the 2019/20 Scottish Cup.

“I’ve been lucky since I’ve been here,” said midfielder Joe Newell, who earned his side a penalty in extra time of that tussle only for Kevin Nisbet to be denied by the bar. “I’ve been to Hampden in every cup competition. But that Hearts game feels quite a while ago now.

“Even the way that panned out, that was a shame. We missed a pen and they went up the other end straight away and got one.

A penalty is awarded after Joe Newell is brought down by Mihai Popescu during a Scottish Cup semi-final match between Hearts and Hibs at Hampden Park, on October 31, 2020.

“But, to be honest, I remember diving for that penalty so as soon as we missed it I remember thinking ‘yeah, that’s probably a bit of karma’.

“That was a good cup tie. I feel that most of the games we have played in against Hearts since I have been here have been quite tight, cagey affairs. Hopefully, with a sellout crowd, the atmosphere will be good and it will go our way.”

It is a season which has thrown up its fair share of tumult, with managerial switches, the loss of key players, dips in form, red cards and injuries, all destabilising. The fact that has played out against a backdrop of their city rivals reasserting themselves in their first term back in the top flight, has stretched the friable patience of fans.

But, focusing on today’s cinch Premiership trip to face Aberdeen at Pittodrie, no-one at Hibs has lost sight of the possibilities still at hand.

Newell is back in the Hibs team after injury.

“Yeah, definitely. We could win a cup and get into Europe and that would be an unbelievable season and it is more than achievable. We know what we have to do and we are all motivated for it. We are looking forward to it. You’ve got to embrace the challenge.”

Sitting fourth, they have the advantage over the other contenders for that European spot, but with just three games ‘til the split, it is a narrow one. Goal difference has them above Livingston, and there are another four clubs clustered just one point behind. Meaning that while fourth place and the cup may be the ultimate goal, the immediate challenge is simply securing a place in the top half of the league when the bottom side are cast adrift.

“It’s coming to the crucial stage of the season for us,” stated Newell, who made a welcome return from injury last weekend.

“When you are injured, no one enjoys it. Watching the lads every week, I was dying to get back out there.

“The way the season has gone has been a bit of a rollercoaster really. So much has happened, there’s been so much change.

“We’ve left ourselves in a position where we are going to have to really perform and more importantly than perform – get the points on the board to make sure we are in the top six for the split.”