‘We had a chuckle’ - Steven MacLean opens up on Hibs-Hearts clash with Lewis Stevenson

Hearts striker Steven MacLean revealed he and Hibs defender Lewis Stevenson laughed about their collision during Sunday’s Edinburgh derby. The pair grappled with one another and rolled around on the Easter Road turf as tempers frayed near the end of the 1-1 draw.

Hibs' Lewis Stevenson and Hearts' Steven MacLean clashed towards the end of last weekend's derby. Pic: SNS

The incident arose after a collision between Stevenson and Hearts striker Uche Ikpeazu. MacLean intervened and briefly wrestled with the left-back on the ground. Despite being 36, the forward said he enjoyed the banter and laughed about it afterwards with his opponent.

“You’d think I’d learn, eh? It was funny,” smiled MacLean. “I just saw him grabbing Uche [Ikpeazu]. I don’t know if he kicked out or whatever. My first thought was just to tackle him but there isn’t a ball there so I’m not wanting to get a red card. I just grabbed him and rolled about with him. We had a chuckle about it after the game.

“D’you know what? That’s what it’s all about at times. It’s a derby. There are going to be tackles. There are going to be heated exchanges. As long as you don’t roll about and try to get your fellow professional sent off, there is gamesmanship which you take on the chin and have a laugh. Then you shake hands at the end and that’s it.

“Fans want to see a bit tastiness as well. As professionals, if we can go toe-to-toe, kick lumps out of each other or whatever, then shake hands at the end of the game then that should help the fans, too. They should be able to go to the game, shout and chant and then respect each other at the end of it.”