Rocky Bushiri in jubilant Hibs reaction to derby joy as Hearts 'quite far down the line' over transfer work

Derby reaction is coming thick and fast after Hibs’ dramatic 3-2 success over Hearts at Easter Road.

Goals from Jamie McGrath, Josh Campbell and Kieron Bowie were enough to seal a priceless Premiership win on home soil against the top of the table Jambos, who launched a late fightback with Cammy Devlin and Lawrence Shankland efforts. Hearts remain top of the league while Hibs are fifth and firmly in the European football debate.

Plenty of fallout has occurred from the derby and that’s without the upcoming January transfer window factored in. Here are some of the latest headlines regarding Hearts and Hibs.

Steve Banks on Hearts title chances

Now Blackpool goalkeeper coach, Steve Banks was in the Jambos camp as talk of the title came to the fore in George Burley’s tenure. Now watching on over Derek McInnes’ the former keeper reckons Rangers and Celtic provide the Jambos with little to fear.

He told the Sunday Post: "It's been amazing to watch Heart's rise to the top of the table. Few would have thought they would have been in such a position when the season got underway back in August. But the bottom line is they absolutely deserve to be where they are at this moment.

"For me, they have a great opportunity to win the league. In truth, they will probably never get a better chance. The Old Firm are stuttering and Hearts have already proven they can be more than a match for both Celtic and Rangers. There is no longer any fear attached to playing the big two in Scotland and all credit to Hearts for making it like that. There is still a long way to go but they are in a strong position. Can they go all the way? I don't see why not."

Rocky Bushiri on Hibs derby joy

Hibs’ victory is made more impressive by the fact they are missing three key players through participation at AFCON, Rocky Bushiri, Miguel Chaiwa and Jordan Obita. All three have not forgotten the big club win, Bushiri posting ‘HIBS’ in capital letters on social media with a bunch of crying eye emojis and green hearts.

Obita said ‘Let’s go’ and Chaiwa added ‘Let’s go +3.’ Bushiri’s DR Congo look set for progress out the group stage after four points from their opening too games, which will prolong his absence from Hibs matches, but Obita’s Uganda are poised for elimination after earning a sole point. Chaiwa’s Zambia have it all to play for in the final group game against Morocco after taking two draws.

Hearts transfer update

Amid the derby disappointment, Hearts boss Derek McInnes provided a transfer update, with Kazakhstan winger Islam Chesnokov’s pre-contract done and a deal in the works for Dutch right-back Jordi Altena. He said: “Obviously, we've got Chesnokov coming in on a pre-contract, so he'll be with us.

“We're quite far down the line with one or two other things that we're looking to try and do. We've still got Landry Kabore away with the African Cup of Nations. We'll see how that plays out. We've got a plan of what we want to do. We're hoping we get a couple of those signings in in the early part of the window.

“We'll see where we go from there. A lot of these things can be dictated by your own players, your own form. We're now going to a next run of games where we've got, I think it's Livingston, Dundee and St Mirren. Hopefully we can find some winning performances and we go again. Because that's the way it is. If it means some new players coming in to help us, then so be it.”