Hibs: Michael Hart has eyes on an upturn in fortunes

The Easter Road defender isn't impervious to the Dons' plight, the Pittodrie outfit languishing at the foot of the SPL table alongside Hamilton following a run of seven successive defeats.

But with Hibs not having their own troubles to seek - they will sit down to their Christmas dinner just five points ahead of the league's bottom two clubs - Hart is adamant there can be no room for sympathy on Boxing Day. The 30-year-old insists all his focus is on easing Hibs' plight - even if it means plunging his old club deeper into the mire.

"I have a lot of good memories of my time at Aberdeen but I am a Hibs player now," he said. "You have to stay professional and do the job you are being paid to do.

"To think of anything other than doing my utmost to get the three points for Hibs would be wrong. Winning is my sole intention.

"I've played against Aberdeen in the past when I was with Livingston but I've been away from Pittodrie for a wee while now having been at Preston North End and there's only a couple of good friends of mine left there now."

While Hibs and Aberdeen will go into Sunday's match intent on easing their own worries, Hart admitted it's a situation he could barely have envisaged when he signed on at Easter Road with Europa League football on the horizon and the target of emulating, or even bettering, last season's fourth place finish.

Given the levels of expectation he held back in the summer, Hart is gutted at how things have panned out since arriving at Easter Road. "It's been really disappointing, probably one of the worst starts to a season I have had," he said. "I'd never have expected us to be towards the bottom end of the table, a club like Hibs should not be down there. But the fact is we are and it is up to us as players, both individually and collectively, to do better.

"Everyone knows we need to improve, to start getting results as quickly as possible and once we do that then I am sure we'll begin to climb up the table. Clean sheets will help, they've been few and far between so far and, to be honest, I think we'd all happily settle for playing in the worst game ever on Sunday provided we win 1-0 - that would be absolutely perfect."

In many ways Aberdeen's season has mirrored that of Hibs, with high expectations replaced by recriminations in the wake of poor results. The two sides have also lost managers over the past few months in the shape of John Hughes and Mark McGhee respectively.

Hughes has, of course, been replaced by Colin Calderwood, his first match in charge, ironically, coming at Aberdeen where he endured a torrid welcome to the SPL as the Dons raced into a 4-0 lead within an hour before goals from Colin Nish and Sol Bamba put a more respectable gloss on the final scoreline.

That victory at the end of October was Aberdeen's last in the league, while Hibs' own form since has been patchy, a memorable 3-0 triumph at Ibrox against Rangers and a second victory of the season over Motherwell rare moments to savour.

But if Hibs haven't quite had the fillip the introduction of a new manager often enjoys, Aberdeen will be hoping the sight of former Scotland boss Craig Brown in the away dug-out will prove to be the catalyst for a change in fortunes.

Brown watched from the stand at Tynecastle as the Dons suffered a 5-0 mauling against Hearts just days after his defection from Motherwell, but as a result of the Arctic blast Sunday will be the first in charge for the 70-year-old and his assistant Archie Knox.

In another of those twists which so often arises in football, Brown was the national coach who gave Calderwood his 36 Scotland caps, although he came off second best when the pair first met as managers in Edinburgh a few weeks ago.

Hart, who was on the bench as Aberdeen pummelled Hibs at Pittodrie, admitted he has his fingers crossed that Brown doesn't get off to a flyer although he believes the presence of a new Dons boss will help entice a bumper crowd to brave the freezing weather.

He said: "I think I'd rather have played Aberdeen a couple of weeks ago when they were on a real low. A new manager often gives a team a fresh start but it will be up to us to make sure that doesn't happen on Sunday.

"The one thing about both Hibs and Aberdeen are the fans. Hibs can bring out crowds of 14,000, 15,000 and 16,000 and it is the same at Pittodrie. I know attendances have dropped a bit up there given recent results but I'd imagine the arrival of a new manager and the hope of an upturn on the pitch will see a very good crowd on Sunday."

And Hart insisted it was time he and his team-mates began taking care of the teams in and around them in the table. He said: "For some reason we seem to do well against the bigger teams.

"We went to Parkhead, did well and were unlucky to come away beaten 2-1 and then we went to Ibrox and enjoyed a terrific victory against Rangers. We can produce performances like those and then, and I don't know why, we seem to struggle against the so-called lesser teams.

"It's simply a case of grinding out results, that's something we must start doing. We want to start pushing our way up the table as quickly as possible."