TRIBUTE HAS ME ALL SHOOK UP

I HESITATE to say I'm all shook up but I have to admit I'll be packing the Kleenex in my kit bag on Saturday.

I've been told many of the supporters will be turning up sporting Elvis wigs and costumes and I have to say that has knocked the wind out of me.

That is a fantastic tribute and one I did not expect. In fact, I know I'm going to struggle to hold it all together because it's going to be a very proud day for me.

My son, Aaron, has been given special dispensation to walk out of the tunnel with me as our mascot. He's only four and normally the minimum age is eight.

But my little boy is going to be by my side when we walk on to the park and that will be such a special moment. It's the kind of thing you'll never forget.

So for myself and my family I imagine it's going to be quite an emotional day.

There have been a few tears shed over the past couple of months - after winning the semi-final against Hibs and after we had clinched a Champions League place by beating Aberdeen.

I was in bits in the dressing room after both these games because I have been through a lot at this club and Hearts really mean a lot to me.

So I do tend to get quite emotional and I don't know what state I'll be in if we win. I might have to let someone else go up first to lift the Cup.

I know how much this means to the club. We have worked hard to get to this stage and we have come through a lot.

Turmoil has surrounded our season and I think that has helped to bring us closer together as a group.

Take Takis Fysass and Edgaras Jankauskas for example. Between them they have won the Champions League and the European Championship and yet they celebrated like teenagers when we came second in the league.

You could see it meant the world to them and that pleased me almost as much as anything else.

Anyone who questions how much success means to the players only had to look at the way they reacted after the final whistle at Tynecastle.

And I can't begin to explain how much it would mean to me to lead the team up the stairs at Hampden on Saturday.

It's my first opportunity to lift a trophy at Hearts so that makes it special.

I've had eight years here with many highs and memorable moments but if we could lift this cup it would top the lot.

I was lucky enough to be involved in winning a couple of league titles and a Scottish Cup as a teenager at Rangers and I guess I thought back then that this was going to be the norm.

But it's been a long wait and that's why I can't even think about letting this opportunity pass me by.

I never thought I wouldn't win a trophy again. I always believed at Hearts we had the chance to lift silverware. We reached a few semis but failed to produce.

But I always believed the chance would come around again and now here it is, just a couple of days away.

The excitement is really starting to build and I've been inundated with requests for tickets.

Hearts received 35,000 through the club and yet the demand has been relentless and that is very exciting because it shows the potential of this club if we can deliver success regularly.

If we lift the Cup it would be the most satisfying success of my career.

I've spent quite a lot of time with Neil McCann in the treatment room and he says winning the trophy with Hearts was the greatest moment of his career.

He went on to win three Scottish Cups at Ibrox but the one that gave him the most satisfaction was the 1998 Final he won with Hearts - simply because it was a bigger achievement.

Over the past 50 years Hearts have not given the fans enough back. We have not won enough trophies or competed for them regularly enough.

But I hope this is the start of a new era which will see us compete more regularly for the top prizes. We don't want to go down in history as a one-season wonder. I believe the club is ready to push on from here and become a real force.

What I would like to stress though is that we do not see this final as some kind of foregone conclusion. People have talked about it as if we just need to turn up and collect our winners' medals but that is not the way we look at it.

We had a real fright earlier in the competition against Partick Thistle and we were very fortunate to get through against them.

That proved to us that, if we are not at the top of our game, we could struggle against Gretna so we will not go into this game with anything less than full respect for the opposition.

Taken from the Daily Record