Hearts v Hibernian: Smashed windows & cult heroes

There is a derby in Edinburgh. There is more blood and sweat than there is movement.

The first of two meetings between the two sides will take place on Monday, with the sides drawn in the Scottish Cup fourth round later in the month. Easter Road was the site of the first derby of the year.

Three veterans of the game shed light on the tumult of the battle to be crowned kings of Scotland's capital.

'Our bus got bricked that night'

There was a callow squad in October of last year. The punishment for entering administration was minus 15 points and they were rank outsiders to knock Hibs out of the League Cup.

Ryan Stevenson was a veteran of the team. He hit in the winner in the win.

Home fans were waiting to confront Pat Fenlon, who left his post two days after James McPake was sent off, because they were angry with him.

The bus got hit by a brick. When we came out, the side window was put in so we had to leave. It makes you want to do the next one even more.

I've not lost here in so many games and I'm definitely not losing this one. We were propelled by it. We were good at drawing games with Hibs when we weren't playing well.

The fixture was dominated by Hearts. The importance of it was hammered into their players.

"We would get on the bus to the stadium and they were playing videos of all the Hearts goals in the derby and we were going to war."

Losing was never an option because it meant so much to the fans.

It was all about how they were coming for a party when Hibs came to Tynecastle in the year that we were demoted. There was a lot of pressure on the young boys to not get demoted.

We were all excited to go into the changing room. We didn't think that we could get promoted today. We won 2-0 because we always said "Aye, we'll show them".

We felt that Hibs were soft when I was there. We had a core of men who were very good. If the games weren't going as well as we wanted, I would look up to the other boys.

'You know what you're getting from Hearts'

John Hughes was ferociously proud of his Leith heritage and was a colossus at the back for Hibs.

In the "millennium derby" of 1999 he captained Hibs to a famous win at Tynecastle, but never beat Hearts again as a manager.

He was the leader of the team that played football for just over a year. If they want to swing, we will just dance around them. It was our entire philosophy. Sometimes you have to change something.

You're getting what you pay for. It will get battered at you and you have to stand up to it.

Making yourself a cult hero

Kevin Kyle enjoyed his time at Tynecastle. On New Year's Day in 2011, the big man rattled home an 86th-minute derby winner for Hearts.

He says he didn't know what to expect when he signed. I realized it was a big club when I first arrived. It can be too much for some players when the fans expect a lot.

Every time I go to Edinburgh someone knows me because I scored in the New Year derby. I'm a cult hero because of that. It is absolutely magic.

I went home and had a Chinese with me after I did the man of the match speech. I wonder why I didn't milk it in Edinburgh.