DIEHARD Jambo Paul Smith was in the squad when Hearts were crushed 5-1 by Rangers in the 1996 Scottish Cup final, but there is no hint of him being on a revenge mission tomorrow.

In the last two years, Smith has almost steered Berwick Rangers to against-the-odds cup wins over Falkirk and Hearts, but he won’t talk about it being third time lucky tomorrow either.

Both represent a simplistic analysis of the Shielfield Park side’s biggest game for more than 30 years - a home tie against the Ibrox giants, which will also be the greatest challenge of Smith’s managerial career.

And although Berwick pulled off one of the greatest upsets in Scottish Cup history, when they knocked out Rangers in 1967, the current boss prefers realism to fairy stories and glib sound-bites.

"In the three years that I’ve been here, we’ve run Falkirk and Hearts very close, and drawing Rangers caps it all," said Smith, a Currie wine- merchant, who played nine times for the Tynecastle side in season 1995/96.

"But we’re going into the game knowing that we could lose four, five or six-nil.

"What we have to aim for is to give Rangers a fright; for the players to go out there and enjoy themselves, and let the people watching on telly see that there is a lot of good football played in the Second Division.

"If we do that, who knows what might happen?"

Smith, who knows that a positive display against Rangers tomorrow may open doors not just for his players but also for himself - he has ambitions to follow in the footsteps of former Berwick boss Jim Jefferies - added: "We’ve done very well for the last two years and to get a third tie like this is great for the club.

"It’s also great for some of the older players. Our captain, Alan Neill, is a lifelong Rangers supporter and he’s never had the chance to play against them.

"He’s just turned 31 and this will probably be one of his last chances. His daughter, Morgan, will be our mascot tomorrow night.

"Then there is a young player like Darren Smith, who is going to get the chance to test his skills against some of the best players.

"So football-wise it’s a great tie, financially, for the club, too."

If there is going to be a shock tomorrow, the blow could well be struck by Berwick’s cup specialist, Craig Feroz. The former Livingston striker has scored every goal for the two clubs he’s played for in cup-ties this season.

He grabbed a hat-trick for Queen of the South in their 3-0 win over East Stirlingshire in the CIS Insurance Cup, and was named man of the match.

In the next round, against home-town club Aberdeen, he scored Queens’ only goal in a 2-1 defeat, and picked up another man-of-the-match award.

Then, after switching to Berwick, he scored the only goal against Cowdenbeath to earn his side tomorrow’s glamour third-round Scottish Cup clash against Rangers.

"The cup competitions seem to be going my way this season," said Feroz. "Three ties, five goals.

"It’s great to have drawn Rangers but the highlight for me was playing against Aberdeen. They’re my home-town team and it was great to play and score against them.

"I almost managed it when I was at Livingston but I got dropped from the squad of 16 for that game.

"The town and the club have been on an amazing high since the draw was made.

"The chairman, Jim Currie, has already told me the goal I scored against Cowdenbeath was priceless. And, among the players, you can seen a difference about the place.

"No-one’s ever late for training and the chief topic of discussion is whose jersey everyone’s going to get after the game.

"If I’m still standing at time-up, I’ll be delighted to get Lorenzo Amoruso’s.

"My step-dad’s Italian, hence the name, and I’m sure that would please him.

"From our point of view, it will be nearly impossible to win the tie but the revenue it will bring in will be great for the club.

"It will allow the team to offer decent contracts and will be a big boost for an area which has been badly hit by the foot-and-mouth problems.

"But the biggest thing will be seeing Shielfield Park on Sky TV.

"It’ll certainly give the viewers a laugh. Don’t get me wrong, the playing surface is perfect, but it’s one of the worst grounds in Scotland and I don’t know what the cameras will make of it."

Smith has only one injury problem, with former Rangers midfielder Sandy Robertson unlikely to play.

Taken from the Scotsman