New Hibs boss eager for first clash with Hearts

COLIN CALDERWOOD admits he can't wait to take his place in the Easter Road dugout - and the fact his first home clash will be an Edinburgh derby makes it an even more mouthwatering prospect.

The new Hibs manager will take charge of his side for the first time this weekend when they travel to Pittodrie to take on Aberdeen.

He faces a tough run of games in his opening spell, heading to Tannadice the following week, before playing host to Hearts on Sunday, November 7 and then Rangers at Ibrox three days later.

Calderwood's focus at the moment is solely on the clash with Mark McGhee's Dons, but he admits that walking out of the tunnel for an Easter Road derby - the club's first clash with Hearts this season - will be a special moment.

He wants his side by then to have a couple of decent results under their belts before they face their old rivals and he said: "It is almost the perfect game for me to have as my first match at Easter Road. I think it's pretty much the perfect start.

"You walk around the pitch look up into the stand and it is fantastic. The club is steeped in history, as is the city and the times that I have been here to play and watch games, it has felt like a real football club.

"And the most important things for me is that it feels like a football city.

"I want to go into that (derby] match on the back of a consistent run of results. By that time we will have full knowledge of one another, both the players and myself, and we will hopefully show that we have got ourselves organised and are playing with a bit of confidence and freedom.

"I think that confidence will ebb and flow during a game, never mind across a whole season. I have got to have the players in a position where they have the mentality where they have a freedom in their play and a freedom to express themselves.

"As long as they do that, at the same time as showing their passion and their commitment to the supporters, I think that will pull us in the right direction."