Premier League opposition suits us, insists Laszlo

Csaba Laszlo, the Hearts manager, is optimistic about his side's Homecoming Scottish Cup prospects despite drawing another Clydesdale Bank Premier League team, Falkirk, in the fifth round.

Hearts booked their place in the next round with a 2-0 win over Edinburgh rivals Hibernian at Easter Road yesterday courtesy of goals from Christian Nade and Gary Glen.

"We do not have the luck of the draw that others are having, that is certain," Laszlo said, "but when you look at recent ties against smaller teams, we have done badly. We lost to Airdrie in a shoot-out in the Co-operative Insurance Cup already this season, so maybe it is better to play SPL teams.

"We will have to take it seriously like we did with this game. We will take it very seriously."

Rob Jones, the Hibernian captain, bemoaned his side's ongoing misfortune in the Scottish Cup, which they last won in 1902. Their cause was not helped when Steven Fletcher was sent off for a tackle on Christophe Berra in the first half.

"That did change the game because we were on top beforehand and nearly got the first goal, which in these games is often vitally important," Jones said.

Peterhead or Queen's Park have the incentive of a game at Celtic Park as prize in their replay. Martin Bavidge, the Peterhead striker, was in the Inverness Caledonian Thistle team that "went ballistic" to knock out Celtic in 2000 and hopes his team can create another bit of cup history.

"It's a fantastic incentive for everyone here," said Bavidge. "I don't think there will be anybody associated with the club who isn't already rubbing their hands.

"At the time of the Inverness upset I was just 19 and it never crosses your mind this might be a one-off occasion. Thinking about the dates, I'm sure it will be around about the same time in February which might be a wee omen for us. It is probably the kind of event that won't happen again for a long period of time, but it would be lovely to have the chance with Peterhead."

Dundee United's reward for a 4-0 win over East Stirlingshire yesterday is an all-Premier League tie at Hamilton, while Rangers will face Forfar or Forres Mechanics if they beat St Johnstone tomorrow night.

Derek McInnes, the St Johnstone manager, believes keeping Pedro Mendes quiet is key to his club's hopes of claiming Rangers' scalp.

"We want to have another cup run, but we're going to have to do it the difficult way by beating one of the favourites,"

McInnes said.

"We'll need to play well to do that, but we've shown in the past that we can defeat Rangers, as we did at Ibrox in November 2006 and then took them to penalty kicks at Hampden last season.

"We're at home, we're strong there and we want to make it difficult for Rangers to come here, but they've got top players like Mendes in having that bit of quality to grind out results.

"He has shown his class this season, scored a great goal at Inverness and we have to make sure he doesn't dictate the game."

Taken from the Herald