Hibs ace reveals he intentionally avoided watching Hearts in Europe last season

Hibs midfielder Jake Doyle-Hayes has revealed he refused to watch any of Hearts’ eight games in European football last season.

The Easter Road man said the resentment of seeing his side’s arch-rivals embark on a European adventure was too much to bear as he grew green with envy.

Both teams are in European competition this season with Hibs facing either Djurgårdens or Luzern if they get past Inter Club d'Escaldes in the second qualifying round of the Europa Conference League. Hearts will begin at the third qualifying round with a match against either Rosenborg or Crusaders.

Last term the Jambos competed in the group stages of the Europa Conference League against Fiorentina, İstanbul Başakşehir and RFS after losing to Zurich in the play-off round for the Europa League. This was the prize for finishing third in the 2021/22 cinch Premiership. Though both teams missed out on the group-stage guarantee this time around, Doyle-Hayes is backing his Hibs side to make it through three two-legged ties to get there.

Jake Doyle-Hayes putting Hearts midfielder Andy Halliday under pressure during a 1-0 victory for Hibs at Easter Road last season. Picture: SNS

“It was tough knowing Hearts were in the group stages of Europe last season. I tried not to watch any of their games,” he told the Daily Record.

"I managed to avoid them all. Because we wanted to be there, we wanted to be in Europe. So we set out last season to make sure that we got there this time and we managed to do it. Now we need to push on and get to the group stage.

“The way the manager wants us to play is high-pressure, front foot. So going into these European games, we need to implement what he’s asking us to do. If we do that, we’ll do well.

“We want to go as far as we can. Everyone wants to get to the group stage and play in it for as long as we can. I think we have the squad to do it.”

Hibs begin their European campaign this coming Thursday with a trip to Andorra for the first-leg encounter with Inter Club d'Escaldes. Though they are clear favourites to win the encounter, Doyle-Hayes insists they’re leaving nothing to chance with temperatures set to be around 27°C.

“We want to put on a good display and then get them back in front of our fans,” he said. “We were in Marbella for a training camp and it was roasting. We will have to control the game and impose ourselves.”

Doyle-Hayes played just 19 times for Lee Johnson’s side last season due to a series of injury issues, but the 24-year-old insists he’s feeling 100 per cent and raring to go ahead of the new campaign.

“I had a stop-start season and it was mentally hard. But I had good people around me at home while the staff and players here kept me going,” he said.

“Now I feel as fit as I’ve ever felt so I’m ready to go. I always wanted to stay because it’s a big club and my family is settled in Edinburgh. We had last season to see what the manager wants us to do and everyone is buying into it now. I think we’re ready to do well. We’re on the right path.”