All thought of cup final stroll must be Nipped in the bud

EX-HEARTS striker Alan Lawrence has warned his former club that complacency is their biggest enemy ahead of Saturday's Tennent's Scottish Cup final showdown with Gretna.

"Nipper", as he was known during his playing days, was an integral part of an Airdrie side that seemed to make a habit of stunning teams in the competition during the 1990s, and he believes the reason for their success was simple - they were continually underestimated.

Indeed, Hearts themselves fell victim to the Diamonds' giant-killing antics on two occasions as they were knocked out at the semi-final stages, firstly on penalties in 1991/92 and then with the only goal of the game in 1994/95.

Few people give Rowan Alexander's Second Division champions much of a chance of causing an upset - Lawrence included - although he believes that Hearts taking their eye off the ball represents Gretna's best chance.

"It can sometimes be easier as a player to get ready for a game against a bigger team because no matter what you say it can be hard to get really motivated for a game that you know you should win," said Lawrence. "Player for player there is no doubt that Hearts are the better side. They will know that and so will Gretna.

"But the team with the better players doesn't always win the game because if they did what a boring game football would be.

"Things like the players' frame of mind and how up for the game they are do come into things as well. There will be quite a lot of the foreign players at Hearts who wouldn't even have heard of Gretna before they came to Scotland, never mind have realised there is a football team from there. After saying that, though, having seen what has gone on at Hearts this season you'd have to be a pretty brave player to allow complacency to set in. Vladimir Romanov has shown he can be very ruthless and a loss to Gretna could end up costing some players not only their places but their jobs!

"I don't see the Hearts players allowing that to happen to be honest but it's the only glimmer of hope that I can see for Gretna and an area Hearts have to be careful of."

However, Lawrence conceded that, even without meaning to, teams can let over-confidence creep into their game to the detriment of their play. And, having been part of an Airdrie side, along with the likes of Jimmy Sandison and John Martin, who made a habit of claiming big scalps he knows that can spell disaster for the favourites.

"At Airdrie we seemed to save some of our best results for the Scottish Cup," Lawrence recalled. "That's probably because it was a one-off game and we often raised our game while the opposition maybe thought because we were in a lower division the game would be a formality.

"We beat Hearts twice in semi-finals yet player for player they had the better team. One of the games even went to a replay which for most teams would mean their chance had gone, so you have to wonder if pressure and maybe complacency played a part in that. You also have to remember that's when we were a First Division side and Gretna are a division below that, albeit only until the start of next season when they are promoted. I think teams did take us for granted and there is little doubt that it gives the underdogs a little bit of a boost when that happens. Quality on the pitch has a big impact on who wins a game - but it's not everything.

"Who will run that extra yard or go into a tackle that little bit harder can also have a say. Gretna will have a great team spirit, as we did, because as champions they win a lot more games than they lose.

"Winning breeds confidence, as the saying goes, and although this will be their toughest test I reckon they will still go into the game believing they can win."

Should all go to plan for the Jambos and they are celebrating their first major trophy for eight years come the final whistle at Hampden Park, Lawrence believes it will be due in no small part to the form of Paul Hartley.

The Scotland internationalist turned in a man-of-the-match display against Hibs in the semi-final, bagging his first hat-trick, and Lawrence admitted it's impossible not to be impressed.

"He's the form player in Scotland at the moment," he said. "Against Hibs he was different class and since that game he's been phenomenal."

Taken from the Scotsman