Aberdeen midfielder Niall McGinn believes Austin MacPhee can be a success in Scottish football but is determined to get one over his Northern Ireland coach this evening.
MacPhee, who has worked as assistant to Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill for the past two years, looked set to be appointed as the Scottish FA’s performance director before opting to become Ian Cathro’s number two at Tynecastle.
McGinn feels the Jambos have made a shrewd appointment – but hopes the Dons can make it three wins in a row when the sides meet in Edinburgh this evening.
The 29-year-old said: “Austin has been great for me and Northern Ireland and it was no surprise that the SFA were interested in him.
“He’s in that new role at Hearts and I’m pleased to see him get a chance in club management, especially as they are a big club.
“I’m sure he’ll enjoy his time there and I know he will always have them well organised as the work I saw him do behind the scenes was incredible.
“The work he does on the opposition is second to none and he is constantly busy on working on the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition.
“In recent years we have been renowned for being good at set pieces and that is all down to him in the way we use the likes of Gareth McAuley and Jonny Evans.
“When you look back at our campaigns we have scored lot of goals from those situations which helped us massively.
“He’ll be giving one hundred per cent to his job with Hearts but from my point of view I’m delighted he’s staying on with Northern Ireland as well.
“It just shows he is getting the rewards from working with Michael O’Neill on the international scene and he was vital to our success story.
“I have a good relationship with him so if he sees me as a threat then he will do his work defensively and have them organised but if we bring our A-game we will cause them problems.”
McGinn netted a stunning solo goal when the Dons lasted tasted victory at Tynecastle in a 3-1 win back in September last year.
The attacking midfielder, who has scored three times in his previous five appearances, is confident his side can end the year on a high this evening.
He added: “We have looked strong, we are creating chances but we need to start keeping more clean sheets because when we do we know we can score at the other end.
“We are in good shape with a bit of momentum going into what is going to be tough game at Tynecastle after Hearts getting their first win under the new manager.
“They will be on a high after that victory against Kilmarnock but we know that if we play as we can then we can cause them real problems.
“It’s one we are looking forward to as there is always a good atmosphere down there.
“We have just been trying to get back to winning ways and not worry about anything outside of ourselves.
“There’s nothing we can do about how the other teams are doing so all we can do is make sure we get the three points at Tynecastle then rest up on the winter break.
“That would make sure that we come back ready to hit the ground running to make it a good start to 2017.”