Lethal Lawrence Shankland popped up with a stoppage-time winner as in-form Hearts defeated Hibernian 1-0 in a tense Edinburgh derby at Easter Road to tighten their grip on third place in the cinch Premiership.

The game looked on course to end goalless after both Shankland and Hibs forward Martin Boyle missed early penalties.

But the talismanic Jambos skipper sparked jubilation among the visiting support in the third minute of stoppage time when he notched his 16th goal of the season to secure a third consecutive clean-sheet victory for the Tynecastle side.

Hibs manager Nick Montgomery made three changes to the side that lost 1-0 at St Johnstone as Paul Hanlon, Jimmy Jeggo, Elie Youan dropped out to make way for Rocky Bushiri, Joe Newell and Josh Campbell.

There were also three alterations to the Hearts team that started Saturday’s 2-0 win over St Mirren as Craig Halkett, Yutaro Oda and Barrie McKay were replaced by Stephen Kingsley, Calem Nieuwenhof and Alan Forrest.

The Jambos were handed the chance to open the scoring in the fifth minute when they were awarded a penalty following a VAR review after Bushiri was deemed to have handled the ball, while trying to head clear Cochrane’s long throw into the box. Shankland saw his low penalty strike the outside of David Marshall’s right-hand post.

Hibs then had the opportunity to punish Hearts’ top scorer for his profligacy from the spot when they won a spot-kick in the 14th minute after Dylan Vente’s goalbound shot was blocked by the flailing hand of Kye Rowles on the edge of the six-yard box. However, Zander Clark did superbly to get down to his right and push Boyle’s effort on to the post.

The hosts enjoyed the bulk of the pressure for the remainder of the first half, but Rowles made a couple of crucial blocks to stop a Vente header and then a Campbell shot, before Jair Tavares saw a ferocious effort deflected over by Aidan Denholm.

Hibs suffered a blow seven minutes after the break when Josh Campbell was carried off the pitch on a stretcher after injuring himself while trying to tackle Beni Baningime. Youan came on in his place.

Hearts substitute Kenneth Vargas was presented with a decent chance in the 68th minute following a loose pass by Lewis Miller, but the Costa Rican fired just over from 20 yards out.

At the other end, Clark had to produce another couple of impressive saves to deny Vente and Tavares.

Hibs keeper Marshall then thwarted Shankland after the Jambos captain got himself away from Bushiri, but the Hearts forward was not to be denied and he kept his cool to curl home a clinical, match-winning finish in stoppage time after finding himself space in the box following a long ball from Clark.

Hibernian manager Nick Montgomery praised Paul Hanlon after the experienced defender returned to help his side to a clean sheet in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Livingston.

Martin Boyle’s first-half goal put Hibs in front but they had to weather a storm in the second half as the hosts threw balls into the box.

Montgomery hailed Hanlon, who was making his first start since mid-October, and his centre-back partner Will Fish, who were both impressive in a tight match.

He said: “I thought the whole back four stood up really well. It was a real team performance.

“You can’t come to places like this and have passengers because you know you’re going to have to pick up those second balls and win those direct balls at the throw-ins, corners and free-kicks.

“They’ve got some real quality and some real height.

“Paul coming back into the team, I thought he was solid. Him and Will Fish. I thought he led the line really well and there was also big character from Will Fish too as he had a pretty big cut on his head and got stitched up at half-time and continued to head those balls.

“The wind was swirling around and it was really difficult conditions but it was important we stayed composed. We didn’t get dragged into a fight and I thought we played some really good stuff in the second half.”

The victory moved Hibs above Edinburgh rivals Hearts and into fourth, but Montgomery insisted he is only thinking about his own side as he praised their togetherness.

He added: “I don’t really concentrate on anyone else. I just concentrate on ourselves, but we know that if we win games of football, that’s going to lift us up the table.

“It’s important in a good team that you know the moments when you have to stick together and fight and get through situations that are a bit uncomfortable. I thought we did that.

“But the team also has quality. We’ve got a good team spirit and a good camaraderie and everyone has seen that. In the first week when I came in and I got to know the players, I could see that they all care for the club.”

Livingston boss David Martindale was frustrated that his side were not awarded a penalty after Kurtis Guthrie went down under a challenge from Joe Newell in the first half.

He said: “The disappointing one for me is there’s one in the first half where Kurtis Guthrie is fouled and Grant (Irvine) has not had the opportunity to go to the screen.

“We got told Kurtis initiated the contact but I’m not sure that’s my view on it. I’m a wee bit disappointed that Grant’s not had the opportunity to go and look at that.

“You’re then allowing VAR to decide and you’re not allowing the on-field referee to use the technology to decide. That’s what I want to happen in football. If there’s any dubiety at all.

“It’s all subjective but it shouldn’t be subjective to someone sitting in a sterile room who isn’t watching the game. So I’m a wee bit disappointed with that but I’m not making excuses.”

Nick Montgomery has challenged Hibernian to take a big step towards more cup glory by eliminating Aberdeen in Saturday’s Viaplay Cup semi-final.

The Hibees last won a trophy in 2016 when they claimed the Scottish Cup for the first time in 114 years, while they last got their hands on the League Cup in 2007.

Current left-back Lewis Stevenson, 35, was involved in both of those triumphs while club captain Paul Hanlon, 33, played in the most recent one.

Both players are in contention to start against the Dons this weekend as the Hibees bid to set up a final showdown with city rivals Hearts or Rangers.

“There’s a lot of history at the club,” said Montgomery. “The past is the past but there are some great memories there.

“Now there is an opportunity for some of the players who have been there before to try and get to that moment again and for some of the players who have never been there to try and get to that moment.

“Any time you get to a cup final, it’s something to look back on in your career. Right now it’s 90 minutes plus extra time or whatever it is, and we’ll give everything we’ve got to try and make sure we get to the final.”

Montgomery, who was appointed Hibs boss in September, is looking forward to leading his team to Hampden less than two months after his first trip to the national stadium.

“I’ve never played or managed there,” he said. “The first time I visited was the Scotland v England game when I first arrived here in Scotland.

“I’m really looking forward to leading the team out tomorrow. It’s a special occasion at a special stadium and I’m looking forward to seeing plenty of our fans there in full voice.”

Hibs have drawn five of their seven league matches under Montgomery, with one win and one defeat.

“We’ve had a couple of draws that I feel we played well enough to win in and we’ve let a two-goal lead slip twice so it’s something we have to fix because getting into the lead is not easy,” he said.

“We have to be more resilient in terms of holding on to those leads. I think we’ve played some good football but there’s plenty improvement to make, especially in terms of concentration.

“You have to concentrate for the full game, especially defensively, like we did against Celtic (when drawing 0-0 last weekend). We have to make sure we do that every game because we know we’ve got goals in the team.

“For me, it’s been eight weeks of learning about the team, the players, the individuals and myself, and I think we’re close to being a good team. What we have to do now is turn those draws into wins but that’s all out the window this weekend because there can’t be a draw.”