Grant vows to take the sting out of old pal Paul

Jags defender Murray played alongside Hartley for two seasons at former club St Johnstone and rates the Scotland midfielder highly.

Hartley is set to return to Graham Rix's side for the quarter-final showdown at Tynecastle on Saturday after completing a three-match ban for violent conduct.

The Hamilton-born player kicked out at Celtic defender Ross Wallace in an off-the-ball incident towards the end of his side's 3-2 home defeat on January 1.

And Grant commented: "Paul has been out of action for the last few games for Hearts, but it looks as if he will be given the nod to play against us in the cup.

"I played with Paul up at McDiarmid Park and know what a good player he is, as well as being a good guy.

"He was always a hard worker and I am delighted that has paid off for him "He has really come good in the last couple of seasons and has thoroughly deserved all the recognition he is now receiving with Hearts and Scotland.

He added:"I have a pretty good idea how he operates having worked alongside him and am looking forward to playing against him if I am given the nod by the manager."

Hearts thrashed SPL rivals Motherwell by 3-0 in Edinburgh last Saturday without Hartley in their starting line-up and Murray knows the Jags have their work cut out.

However, the former Jam Tarts player, who sat on the bench as they beat Rangers to land the Scottish Cup back in 1998, feels Dick Campbell's men have an outside chance of success.

He added: "Whether Paul plays or not, Hearts will have good international players who can score goals and we will be hard pushed to get a result against the team that is second behind Celtic in the SPL.

"Having said that, Inverness Caley Thistle were the strong favourites to win in our last two games and we managed to overcome them and get into the last eight.

"With Partick Thistle being one of the biggest clubs in the Second Division, everybody expects us to win all our matches. But the pressure is off us in many respects in the cup.

"Inverness had one of the best strike partnerships in the SPL in Craig Dargo and Dennis Wyness and we kept them at bay. We are looking forward to doing the same again at Hearts.

"This game is live on Sky and there will be a full house in a

fantastic stadium where the fans are all really close to the pitch. It should be a great occasion and the atmosphere will be brilliant, too.

"We will be going to Edinburgh with a definite game plan in mind and conscious of the fact that anything can, and quite frequently does, happen in cup games."

Taken from Evening Times