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Hearts captain Christophe Berra insists the players are relieved to get the Edinburgh derby monkey off their back with Sunday’s Scottish Cup win over Hibs.
Don Cowie’s late strike earned the Gorgie outfit city bragging rights for the first time in ten games, a barren run stretching back to August 2014, as the Gorgie outfit progressed to the fifth round of the competition.
Manager Craig Levein even claimed that the victory helped ‘restore the natural order’, a comment that Hibs counterpart Neil Lennon branded as ‘disrespectful’.
Scotland internationalist Berra was involved in the winning goal after Cowie got a flick on his header but the 32-year-old admits he was just thrilled to end their barren spell against their capital rivals.
Berra said: “It’s a monkey off our back now – Hibs were going for ten unbeaten – and to get the win with just minutes to go – you couldn’t write it.
“I was just happy we scored, being involved in it – I just ran off (to celebrate).
“I didn’t know if I had scored or not but I had a big part to play in it and I was just happy to win in the circumstances.
“It was a big relief for the players and first and foremost the fans who turned out, you saw how happy they were at the end of the game.”
Hearts have now gone ten games unbeaten in all competition and have not conceded a goal in their last seven matches.
But with a five point gap to make up on fourth place Hibs, Berra insists they are still striving to be better.
Berra, who is hoping to shake off an ankle knock to face Hamilton on Wednesday, added: “Let’s be honest, there is a lot of improvement to be made within the squad but slowly we’re getting there and we need to keep on being consistent.
“It was a great win but we’ve got to back it up and be a team that can win most weeks.”
