Hearts are form team but Hibs fans can swing it

Immediately, Northern Ireland ace Sproule's mind raced back to the 4-0 mauling Hibs suffered at the hands of their arch-rivals in the Scottish Cup semi-final of 2006, the shiver that ran down his spine almost instantaneously disappearing as he remembered the CIS Insurance Cup victory which followed only months later.

Today, the flying winger believes, fans on both sides of Edinburgh will be recalling those days with similar emotions, supporters of Hibs and Hearts believing that it will be their heroes who emerge victorious from the clash at Easter Road next month.

Sproule said: "I was sitting in Jamie's house watching the draw and I immediately offered him a bet Hibs would win 2-0. Jamie obviously fancies Hearts – but he wouldn't buy it.

"It's a fantastic draw for the city, these are the games you want, against your biggest rivals with all the passion both sets of fans bring to an Edinburgh derby.

"Hearts are obviously the form team at the moment with that great win over Rangers at the weekend but Hibs have also been picking up decent results lately which makes for a cracking tie.

"Realistically, the cups represent the best chance for any side outwith the Old Firm to pick up a piece of silverware every season and I'm sure both Hibs and Hearts will be looking on this game as a chance to knock a major rival out of the competition early."

Sproule knows better than anyone the rollercoaster of emotions such occasions bring, sent off along with Gary Smith as Hearts crushed a vastly under-strength Hibs at Hampden on April 2, 2006, before going on to squeeze past Gretna on penalties in the final to get their hands on the Scottish Cup.

There was a happier outcome, though, when the sides clashed again in the quarter-finals of the CIS Cup at Easter Road only seven months later as a Rob Jones' goal sent Hibs on towards glory as they hammered Kilmarnock 5-1 to lift that particular piece of silverware, their first in 16 years.

He said: "We had a lot of players missing at Hampden that day, guys like Scott Brown, Derek Riordan, Chris Killen, Guillaume Beuzelin, Michael Stewart and Dean Shiels, but even so no-one likes to be beaten like that.

"Being sent off made me feel as if I had let thousands of people down even although we were losing 2-0 at that stage with the game probably beyond us.

"So when we met again in the CIS Cup later that year I went out totally determined to be on the winning side. We managed that with big Rob's goal and went on to have a much better day out at Hampden the following March than we had endured 11 months earlier."

The fact only Steven Fletcher and Chris Hogg remain of the side which succumbed to Hearts the last time they met on Scottish Cup duty means, according to Sproule, that today's team shouldn't allow memories of that day to affect their approach this time round.

He said: "Both sides are totally different today and what happened back then won't have any bearing. Hearts have been going well but I am delighted to see Hibs have found a bit of form and that Mixu Paatelainen appears to have found a settled side.

"In the past few weeks it's been more or less the same 11 starting which is a sign of consistency."

The tie will, of course, be the second derby in the space of barely a week with the Capital outfits due to clash at Tynecastle on January 3 and Sproule is in no doubt what he would do if presented with the chance of winning one or other of the matches.

He said: "The league is important because that's your bread and butter which makes it the No.1 priority. But no two games are the same never mind back-to-back derbies and having been told every time the Scottish Cup came round during my spell with Hibs that this would be our year then I'd take a cup win over the league any day."

At present Hearts, nine points clear of Hibs in third place in the SPL, appear to have the edge, but Sproule believes the fact the cup match is to be played at Easter Road could help swing it in Hibs' favour.

"You always want a home tie no matter who you are playing against in cup competition and I'm sure Hearts, confident as they will be, won't have been overjoyed to see Hibs pulled out of the hat first.

"Having played in front of those fans I know how they can lift you. They'll be just as desperate as the players to win and the atmosphere will be superb, our supporters will back the guys on the pitch 100 per cent and that, I feel, might just prove to be the key."

Sproule and McAllister, though, will find their attention totally focused on their own FA Cup drama before they can even begin to think about their old clubs with Bristol City drawn to travel to meet holders Portsmouth the previous week.

He said: "After losing out to Hull City in the play-offs for the Premier League last season our form has been a bit indifferent but you want a big name in the cup and they don't come any bigger than the current holders.

"We watched Portsmouth draw 2-2 with AC Milan last week in the UEFA Cup so hopefully we can put on just as good a performance as the likes of Kaka and Ronaldinho."

Taken from the Scotsman