By Ronnie Esplin, PA Sport

Hearts midfielder Paul Hartley will willingly forsake his traditional end-of-season traipses around the golf course for the chance to win his first ever medal.

The Edinburgh side are overwhelming favourites to beat Bell's Second Division champions Gretna in the Tennent's Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park on Saturday.

The 29-year-old has never played in Scottish football's showpiece occasion and is normally enjoying his post-season break at this time of the year.

However, the Scotland player is enjoying his extension to the

campaign.

Hartley said: "This week has been completely different for me.

"I would probably have been on the golf course if we hadn't made the final.

"Saturday will be something new for me and a lot of the players. But I'm really looking forward to it.

"I have felt the tension all week in the build-up to the match and it's been fantastic.

"The next stage is to go and win which would mean everything to me.

"When you turn professional, you want to win the Scottish Cup and other silverware.

"It would be my first medal and first trophy - it would be unbelievable.

"I watched last year's final between Celtic and Dundee United in the house.

"It wasn't the best final I've ever seen, but Celtic did the job and, hopefully, we can do the job on Saturday.

"It doesn't matter if it's 1-0 or whatever, as long as we win it.

"We might never have a better chance so, hopefully, we can take it.

"We are all very confident. We have the players in the dressing room with good spirit and we'll make sure the cup will be coming home to Tynecastle."

Hartley, who scored a memorable hat-trick against Edinburgh rivals Hibernian in the semi-final, will have no problem leaving the glory to somebody else against Gretna.

He added: "It's not about an individual, it's a team game and, maybe, it will be somebody else's turn to steal the limelight in the final.

"Obviously I had it in the semi-final, but there's no pressure on me for this game.

"I have come good in the big matches and, hopefully, I can do so again against Gretna, but I will be playing my normal game.

"Everybody is in it together, we all want the same thing and I'm sure we will achieve that."

The Gorgie side last won the cup in 1998 when they beat Rangers 2-1 at Celtic Park but failed to build on that success with the team breaking up soon afterwards.

However, Hartley believes the current Tynecastle side can continue their recent upward curve under the stewardship of majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov.

He said: "We've won second spot in the SPL and have reached a cup final.

"The next thing is to win the cup and build on it for next season.

"I'm sure Mr Romanov will want to do that, he is very wealthy and is prepared to put a lot of money into the club.

"Everybody wants to stay here so things are looking good for us.

"We have quality but I'm sure Mr Romanov will bring more into the squad.

"There has been a lot of pressure on the boys but, hopefully, we'll be able to enjoy it on Saturday night.

"If we win, we can all relax and have a good celebration."

Taken from sportinglife.com