Gretna deserve credit but not our generosity

HEARTS star Robbie Neilson today hailed Gretna as a breath of fresh air for Scottish football but vowed to take the wind out of their sails at Hampden tomorrow. The Raydale Park outfit are rising rapidly through the lower divisions thanks to the investment of millionaire Brooks Mileson.

The Dumfriesshire club have already secured promotion to the First Division next term while their unlikely progression to the cup final and their qualification for next season's UEFA Cup has raised the outfit's profile still further.

While their critics have claimed they are simply buying success, Neilson insisted those suggestions are unfair and they deserve credit for trying to establish themselves as a real force in the game. The Scotland Future squad cap spent a season on loan in Dumfries at Queen of the South a couple of seasons ago and is well aware of the potential that exists in that area.

Indeed, he would like nothing more than for Gretna to continue to shake up the Scottish game further - just not in Glasgow tomorrow.

"I think what's going on down there can only be good for Scottish football," admitted Neilson, the longest serving player at Hearts.

"There are a lot of players down there that are a lot better than the type of guys that usually play in the second division and that's because they are a club going places. They have a big catchment area for supporters and if the team continues to do well then I'm sure they will come out to support the team.

"I spent a wee while down in the area a few years ago when I was at Queen of the South and there's definitely potential.

"At the moment, I think a lot of them travel up to watch Rangers and Celtic games but if they had something right on their doorsteps I'm sure they would support it.

"I watched the television programme on them earlier in the week and Brooks Mileson seems determined to take them places. There is a real scope for getting a good team. The fact they are in Europe this season will help them to get where they want to be a wee bit quicker than they otherwise have.

"I think most neutrals will be cheering them on tomorrow, which is understandable, but we have to make sure the fairytale doesn't go any further for them."

Neilson, though, is taking nothing for granted and, while some pundits have predicted a comfortable win for the Jambos, the right back says that suggestions of the game being a walk-over is doing their opponents a great disservice.

In fact, Neilson believes that Gretna are already at a level where they are not too far away from coming up to SPL standard and for that reason he says Hearts must be wary.

"Guys like Alan Main, Steve Tosh and James Grady aren't down there for the easy life, they are down there as they believe Gretna can go forward," he said.

"Even now they aren't far away from being a Premier League team in terms of the standard they are at.

"They have beaten several First Division teams on the way to this game so that shows they aren't overawed playing so-called bigger teams.

"We have to concentrate on our own game and try and start well. Everyone is saying all the pressure is on us but there's pressure on them too because after getting this far they aren't going to just turn up to make up the numbers.

"They will be going to Hampden to try and win the game and it's up to us to make sure that doesn't happen. What we achieved in the league was massive but I think winning the Scottish Cup would be even bigger."

Neilson and the injured Neil McCann are the only players still on the Tynecastle outfit's books from the last time the Scottish Cup was lifted back in 1998, although the former was only in the youth team.

Having witnessed the wild celebrations that met that win Neilson admitted he believed they would have become common place over following seasons.

However, that triumph proved to be a false dawn for the Capital club and eight long years have now passed since that sunny day in May, years in which Hearts fans have seen plenty of upheaval, changes in personal and owners.

And, with the knowledge that these opportunities can come along all too rarely in a footballer's career, the defender is desperate to experience that sort of occasion as a cup winner.

"My abiding memory of that cup victory is the next day and just the number of people that lined the streets and filled the stadium to watch the cup be brought back to Tynecastle," he said. "I was only just in the door at the club and I really thought that sort of thing would be happening all the time which obviously didn't turn out to be the case.

"We've had the odd semi-final here or there but we've never been to another final until now which simply isn't good enough for a team of Hearts' size. We need to make sure that we go out and win this game and if we can do that hopefully it will just be the start of a lot more trophies coming our way.

"The last time the cup was won the celebrations were special but to be part of the team that actually went out there and did it on the pitch would be amazing.

"I've waited a long time for a shot at a final and now that it's here I want to make sure that we make the most of it.

"We're expected to win after finishing second in the leagueand if we go out and play our normal game that should be the case.

"We've taken it one game at a time so far in the competition and to know we are now just one win away from a trophy and a medal is a great feeling."

Taken from the Scotsman