Leading out Hibernian in an Edinburgh derby will be one of the proudest moments of John Hughes' career.

But the Hibs boss has vowed not to get himself caught up in the emotion of the day as he attempts to maintain his excellent start to life in the Easter Road hotseat.

"It's right up there," he said when asked to compare the honour with his other career highlights.

"I always had the ambition to come back and manage the club, but I've played numerous derby games.

"I wouldn't let myself get caught up in all that.

"In terms of tactics and moving people about, you have to make sure you're focused on that game."

With derbies notoriously hard to predict, Hibs' 11-point Clydesdale Bank Premier League lead over their struggling arch-rivals may not mean much tomorrow.

But asked whether he would be happy with a draw, Hughes quickly replied: "No, I want to win.

"We want to take the game to them and we want to win the football match, simple as that.

"Bring it on. There's nothing to be fazed about going there. You're going to a great arena.

"We give Hearts all of the respect they deserve.

"Once that whistle starts, there is no quarter asked or given."

Hughes famously adopted a fire-and-brimstone approach to derbies while he was a player at Easter Road.

But he insists there will be no rousing team-talks from him in the away dressing room on Saturday.

"You just have to leave the boys to themselves," he said.

"Come Saturday, they'll all know what's required of them and hopefully they can go and produce."

He added: "I've got Hibs supporters in there.

"But no matter if you've been here a week, or you've been here four years and you've supported the club, it's a special, special day.

"To go over to their own back yard over the other side of the town and to take their scalp, that's what we're looking to do."

Having won just two of their 10 SPL games, Hearts need a derby win much more than their arch-rivals on Saturday.

But Jambos boss Csaba Laszlo rubbished suggestions it was the biggest game of his side's season.

"It's not the biggest game; every game is a big game," he said.

"They're doing very well at the moment and they have had better results than us.

"But we'll go out at Tynecastle and we must win the game."

He added: "We must not hide behind anybody; we're not afraid of anybody, even Hibs."

For the first time since Laszlo arrived at the club in the summer of last year, the Hearts boss and his players have come under sustained fire from some of the club's supporters.

But Laszlo said: "We can give the confidence back with success against Hibs."