Hibs boss Jack Ross admits he would miss derby matches against Hearts

Jack Ross tasted derby victory at Tynecastle back in December.

Hibs boss Jack Ross admits he will miss the Edinburgh derbies next season if Ann Budge’s reconstruction proposals fail to save Hearts from the drop.

Ross has experienced the fixture on two occasions since replacing Paul Heckingbottom last year, claiming a 2-0 victory at Tynecastle in December 2019 before losing 3-1 at Easter Road in March this year.

There is also the outstanding Scottish Cup semi-final between the capital clubs, postponed in April due to coronavirus. The SFA remain committed to staging once football resumes, possibly in 2021, but Ross confessed that the league clashes would be a loss.

“I've only had experience of two of them as a manager, one good one, one bad one, but they are terrific occasions,” the 43-year-old said. “I think when fixture lists come out it's the games that whoever has the broadcast rights want to show, and most people around the country are interested in that fixture.

“If the situation does ultimately end with us not having that match next year - although we will may still have a semi-final of a cup to play - then they will be missed.”

As well as relegating Hearts, last week’s decision to conclude the Premiership season resulted in Hibs dropping a place from sixth to seventh in the final standings on the points-per-game ratio, but Ross has accepted the outcome.

“Rewind a couple of months ago, which seems a long time ago now, and I said the preference would have always been to finish the season, but as time marched on the complexities of doing that (in the) time-scale ... so for a number of weeks I had made peace with the fact that the season was finished and the fact we would drop a place because of that,” Ross said. “Some of the consequences of other clubs are a lot more serious than for us.

“I don’t think we ever imagined we would be in a situation where that would be the case. It's so unprecedented. I've tried to follow it over the last couple of weeks without getting bogged down.

“I’ve heard all the various arguments and it’s not easy to find a solution and one that appeases everybody. I think we've seen that and potentially not got there yet.

“It's very difficult. We always enter into a competition believing that we'll fulfil all the fixtures and where you find yourselves at the end of all those fixtures you have to accept.”

Ross is planning to bring his players back in for training on June 10 - the date the current suspension on football activity in Scotland is due to be lifted - but admits he will have to wait on the green light to do so.

“A lot of the information from a football point of view has to run on the back of what the First Minister says, and what the government advice is,” Ross said. “I think the only grey area was between two dates of the 10th and 19th.

“We’re saying June 10 but that’s without absolute clarity of the start of season. We usually have a start date and work back from there, but if we’re not going to start the season until mid-August then that’s too long.

“Around about June 10 and 19 we would hope it would be a phased return in terms of what we’re able to do. How quickly we work through those phases of training haven't been clarified either.”

Like the majority of staff at the Easter Road club, Ross Is currently on furlough while also taking what he described as a significant wage deferral, but he has remained in constant dialogue with his players including out of contract trio Steven Whittaker, Vykintas Slivka and Adam Bogdan.

"I'm no different to a lot of people who have been furloughed and who have children of school-age in that homeschooling is challenging and time-consuming,” Rossssaid. “So I don't have a lot of spare time at the moment which is just as well because I don't have nearly as much work as I would normally have to do.

"The vast majority of our staff were furloughed. It was well publicised that we all bought into a wage deferral across the club - different deferrals according to various roles - but particularly on the football side, playing and coaching, significant deferrals to help the club from a cash flow perspective.

“We're slightly unusual in that we only had three players out of contract at first team level which is obviously very different to most of the clubs in Scotland.

“I speak to them (all players) a lot individually and as a group within the parameters of them being furloughed. We can do that as friends and discuss where we're at and where we can potentially get to. A lot of the times it's been an update - but not really an update - because we've not had anything definitive to say to them.

“We had always been using June 10 as a date for us (to return to training) because we needed to have something to plan towards. That helps the players because they've been desperate for some clarity. By nature footballers are used to having that structure to their lives and it's unusual for them not to have that.

“Undoubtedly it will have been very strange for them but that's the same for lots of different professions.”

Ross hopes his players have used their time on furlough to reflect on their careers and plan for the future.

He said: “There's an element of me that thinks this period will have pushed players to think for themselves a little bit more, and take that extra responsibility upon themselves, which is never a bad thing.

“We do live in a modern football era where we give the players a lot of information and guidance, and a lot of ex-players will tell you there was a time when you had to look after yourself in that respect when you weren't at your club.

“Hopefully some of them will have taken that positive from it, but certainly in terms of the challenges and being away from day-to-day work we've tried to have regular communication with them. Things we've come together and did via all the platforms that are available now to do that, which has been very helpful, have hopefully helped them from a mental health perspective.”

Ross stepped away from senior football in his youth to focus on getting an education and he believes players should always have a back-up plan.

“I don’t want to sound coldhearted but players should always have that in their mind,” he added in an interview on Radio Scotland. “It's maybe easier for me because I had four years out of professional football when I was young between 18 and 22. I went to university and I spent time out of the game.

“Then post-playing, although I was working in football with the PFA, I still wasn't involved in the coaching, management or playing side of it. So that experience when I was young has always made me acutely aware of the need to be able to work outside of football.

“There’s loads of ways you can make a living and you can go and find another profession or be able to do something else. Footballers have a lot of transferable skills that quite often they don't even recognise within themselves. If you’re looking at some of the positives from it, I think it will have made players even more aware.

“There is a lot more awareness around career planning for when that transition comes around, but I think it will have heightened that awareness as well.“