Derek Riordan in Hibs message of hope as club hero remembers Hearts doubt that was banished

Derek Riordan has been heroic in backs-to-the-wall derby wins for Hibs.

Now the former Easter Road icon insists his old club have to somehow find a way to conjure their own turnaround to save their season in Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final against Hearts.

Shaun Maloney ’s team head to Hampden under a cloud after a desperate run that has sapped confidence from the squad and belief from fans.

Hibs have recorded just one win in 13 league games since the turn of the year while their miserable defeat at Tynecastle four days ago consigned them to a place in the bottom six for the post-split campaign.

A second successive reverse at the hands of Hearts would bring a brutal end to their season. Maloney and his men are on the ropes ahead of their trip to Glasgow but Riordan is adamant that should only serve to fire up the camp.

The ex-playmaker has been there. He’s been in Hibs teams who have been given no chance of defeating their biggest foes, only to come out victorious.

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Riordan scored a spot-kick winner for a depleted Mixu Paatelainen team on one such occasion across the capital in 2009 and is desperate for this squad to produce another unlikely outcome.

He said: “You need to try to find hope and