Queen of the South determined to put Hibs party on hold

Queen of the South manager Gary Naysmith said Hibs could win the Championship if they beat or even draw with us. Picture: Roddy Scott/SNS

Queen of the South manager Gary Naysmith will always have strong links with Hearts, but he wants to beat their greatest rivals Hibernian today for the good of his Dumfries side as opposed to denying the Easter Road men a party. A win for Neil Lennon's side over their visitors will see them crowned champions should Falkirk fail to see off resurgent St Mirren. Naysmith is out to stop the celebrations, but not for any tribal reasons.

The 46-times capped Scotland defender, pictured, who spent the early years of his career at Tynecastle, said: “Hibs could win the Championship if they beat or even draw with us and that will be a huge incentive for them. It has made a hard game even harder but I am looking forward to it as I like testing myself against the best teams and managers.

“It is my first trip there as a manager but I am more interested in Queen of the South winning for our purposes than I am in winning to deny Hibs something. They will go on and win the league anyway, I am pretty sure of that.

“Our aims are a bit more modest as I want us to finish in fifth place. We will not catch the teams in the play-off zone unless there is an almighty collapse from Morton or Dundee United and I cannot see that happening. We will go to Hibs and look to continue showing the good form we have been showing. We have played really well against Dundee United and Ayr, six goals in two games and it could have been more than that. Hibs are a very good side but we will look to impose our style of play on them. If we do that then I will be pleased.”