Watch the Edinburgh derby live on Sky Sports Football from 5pm
Thursday 27 December 2018 12:12, UK
Craig Levein is hopeful there will no repeat of the off-field violence that marred the last Edinburgh derby when Hearts face Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday.
Trouble flared when the two clubs met at Tynecastle in October, with Levein's counterpart Neil Lennon struck by a coin thrown from the crowd while Hearts goalkeeper Zdenek Zlamal was also floored by a supporter, he claimed punched him in the face.
The capital clash at Easter Road will follow the Old Firm contest as part of a double header of derby meetings, live on Sky Sports Football, and Levein is optimistic the action on the pitch is what makes the headlines.
"When you come into games like this you want all the action to be on the park and not off the park," Levein, whose Hearts side are four points clear of Hibernian, told Sky Sports News.
"It was quite sad to see the nonsense that went on in the last match. I am just hoping everybody behaves themselves and allows the football to be the spectacle."
Hearts beat Hamilton 2-0 on Boxing Day for their first league win in three matches to leave them fifth in the table ahead of the final round of fixtures before the winter break.
Levein believes his side's confidence is returning as they welcome back players from injury, including the influential Steven Naismith, who scored in only his second match back knee surgery against Hamilton.
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"He is a real talisman for us. I think our players, knowing he is in the team and the opposition knowing they have got to play against him gives us an advantage," Levein said.
"It is great to have him back. He is not 100% yet as you can imagine but after this game [he has] the time during the short winter break to get himself back to full fitness.
"He is used to being the marked man. He is quite a robust character and it is in his nature to try and cajole the rest of the team and sometimes bark at them as well!
"I just feel good about having him back. Once we can get the rest of the players back I am sure we can get back to our early season form."
Hearts were top of the league in early November before going five matches without a win but Levein says his side are now "in a much better place" but insists he is still slightly disappointed by their points tally so far in the campaign.
Levein, who expects another "frantic" encounter against Hibernian, said: "I'd rather have some more points on the board. We had a difficult time [but] there's no point in going on about it."
