Grant Stott: Another loss, but you have to admit it's getting better

NO question, going into the game at Tannadice, most Hibs fans were wanting to see a marked improvement on the previous performance at Pittodrie. And to be fair, I think they got it.

Granted, the end result was disappointing but Colin Calderwood seems to have been busy over the past week working on the fragile Hibs defence which lost so many goals the previous week.

He changed things around, shuffled the pack and brought Hart, De Graaf, Grounds and Galbraith into the starting line-up. It's still a long way off from what you could call scintillating stuff and there were still a couple of, now customary, lapses in concentration at the back which ultimately cost us, but had we been a bit more clinical in front of goal it could have been oh so different.

Hibs and penalties haven't gone well together lately and Derek Riordan stuck by his promise after his last miss at Easter Road by not taking the one we got on Saturday. John Rankin was deemed the man to do it but, unfortunately for all of us, didn't.

He also got in the way of Riordan netting the rebound. It's true what they say, when things are not going your way, it really isn't going your way. Rankin was big enough, for a wee man, to put his hand up and take responsibility, saying that he changed his mind on the run up to taking the penalty and how he will be offering to take the next one when it comes up.

Personally, I'd be happier to see Deek stepping up - despite his bad run from the spot. Either way, I hope our new boss is dedicating some extra time on penalties on the training pitch.

But the only thing worse than missing a penalty is losing the game in the last few minutes, and that's what happened. Another lapse in concentration was blamed and it was a real blow because I think the consensus was we were worthy of the point and the wee lift from an improved performance and a good point might have made the prospect of our next fixture slightly less daunting.

And if nerves were part and parcel of a normal derby week then this one is shaping up to be nervier than any trip that you might have made to your front door last night. No doubt about it, with their top-half status and the return of their prodigal son, going into this derby our neighbours will, as always, be fancying the pants off themselves. But it's been said before, in these games form and league position rarely count for anything. You just need to look at what happened over the weekend, and in particular yesterday at Tynecastle, to find an example of how teams in the bottom half of the table can quite easily get results against teams who have been faring much better so far this season.

And as it stands, that's maybe pretty much all that we Hibs fans have to get optimistic about, but being a derby - that'll do.

Hibs have been promoting this fixture as a housewarming for Calderwood and no doubt it'll be like many house parties we've been to before.

There will be that nervy period just beforehand when you worry whether or not everyone is going to turn up. You'll get very excited as things get under way, but there is always the risk that things will turn ugly as the neighbours, who you don't really like but had to invite anyway, inevitably turn up and make nuisances of themselves; and in some cases, spoil the party completely.

But this weekend's game might just be the platform for our season to really start. In the two games since Calderwood, arrived there has been an improvement, without a result, but an improvement nonetheless. And if this can carry on into Sunday's game and we get a positive outcome, then I think our season really can start in earnest.

The team has been tinkered with and different options have been tried as the new gaffer figures out how to get the best out of what he has at his disposal. I just hope that whichever team he puts out on the day, they get stuck into this one as if their very lives depended on it.

Glory, Glory.