Hibs star Isaiah Osbourne gutted to miss derby

The midfield powerhouse picked up his sixth booking of the season during the Easter Road outfit’s win over Kilmarnock and under the new disciplinary system faces an automatic one-match ban.

The 24-year-old would normally serve the penalty two weeks later which, in his case, would have been on Saturday, March 10. But as Pat Fenlon’s side meet First Division Ayr United in the William Hill Scottish Cup at Somerset Park that day, his suspension will be held over until the following weekend.

As a result, he will now miss the trip to Tynecastle for the third clash of the season with Hearts. Team-mate Ivan Sproule, who collected a sixth yellow card in the 4-3 defeat at Fir Park last week, also misses the match, the cup quarter-final meaning he will also have to wait an extra week to serve his ban.

Today Osbourne, cautioned at Rugby Park by referee Stevie O’Reilly for a second-half challenge on former Hibs player Dean Shiels, admitted he was unaware of the disappointment ahead until informed by a member of Fenlon’s backroom staff.

The former Aston Villa ace said: “I didn’t know how many bookings I was on but was told yesterday that I can’t play in the derby.

“It’s a huge disappointment, these are the games everyone wants to be involved in. I played in the first Edinburgh derby in what was only my third match for Hibs and suffered the disappointment of losing 2-0.

“There was a terrific atmosphere and I was really looking forward to going back there and hopefully coming away with a win, having missed the match against Hearts at Easter Road at the start of the year through injury.”