Elvis plots down Fal of Hearts

LIFTING the Scottish Cup with Hearts was one of the highlights of Steven Pressley's career and the defender would love nothing more than to repeat that feat with Falkirk this season.
However, Pressley knows that to make it to the Hampden final in May, the Bairns would first have to pull off a cup shock and dispose of his old side at Tynecastle this weekend. But the 35-year-old insists his new side will travel to the Capital on Saturday with nothing more in mind than winning the game.

Pressley won himself a place in the history books when he captained the Hearts side which won the competition three seasons ago after a penalty shoot-out victory over Gretna and little else has come close to that emotional high. The former Rangers, Celtic and Randers defender spent almost nine years with Hearts and readily admits that they hold a special place in his heart.

All of that, though, will go out of the window this weekend and Pressley's eyes are already firmly fixed on the prize and the hope that he can add another Scottish Cup winner's medal to his collection.

Pressley said: "I am looking forward to the game. The Scottish Cup in recent years has had some great memories for me. It is an opportunity for us at Falkirk now to go out and try to make an impact on the competition.

"It is going to be a very testing game and, especially in terms of the Scottish Cup, Tynecastle is one of the most daunting places that you can possibly go.

"We are well aware of that and of the threat that Hearts will pose to us but confidence is high after two good results in the league. We drew with Motherwell and then beat Aberdeen last weekend, who are probably the in-form team in the SPL right now.

"There's no doubt that it will be a difficult match but those results have given us a bit of a boost and we will be going there to give it our best shot.

"We want to win the Cup, of course we do, that has to be the club's aspiration at this point in time. We want to be in the final at Hampden in May.

"Yes, you need your breaks and a bit of luck along the way but there is no reason why we can't have that happen and why we shouldn't have belief in ourselves."

While Pressley clearly has hopes and ambitions of more silverware with the Bairns, he also concedes that they first have to look after the bread-and-butter issues of daily life in the SPL.

Boss John Hughes always insists that the club's priority at the beginning of each season is simply to ensure their survival in the top flight and Pressley is quick to agree, continuing: "First and foremost at Falkirk, our SPL survival is the most important aspect of our season but I think that a good cup run can always generate a real feel-good factor and a good atmosphere and a lot of interest in the club as well, which is always good.

"That in itself can benefit players and I think if we can go to Tynecastle and get a result then that can have a positive impact on our season in the league as well as the Scottish Cup."

Hearts will line up against the Bairns this weekend without Christophe Berra after the young defender opted for a switch to English Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers and Pressley admits that Saturday's rivals losing one of their top players during the January transfer window could be a boost for the Bairns.

The 24-year-old stopper had been one of the Jambos' most reliable performers this season and his absence seemed to be magnified by last weekend's 2-0 defeat to Hamilton in the SPL.

Pressley believes that it could take some time to find a replacement of similar quality to Berra and added: "I think that he has been an enormous player for them and his performances certainly this season have excelled all expectations and, as a result, he has attracted attention from a number of clubs down south.

"He has been a big presence in the Hearts squad for some time now and any SPL team would miss a player like Christophe from their ranks and Hearts will be no different.

"I am sure that in time they will find a suitable replacement for him but initially it might be a situation that we can take advantage of."

Pressley is no stranger to this fixture, having scored three times in the 2-2 draw at the Falkirk Stadium in season 2005-06 – a match full of incident which also saw Craig Gordon red-carded.

One of those strikes, of course, was an own goal which gave Falkirk a two-goal lead and left them in the driving seat for victory. A second-half double from Pressley, though, including a last-minute equaliser, earned the Jambos a share of the spoils.

That game will forever live in Pressley's memory and he laughed: "I scored three goals in this fixture in the league a couple of years ago – albeit one of them was an own goal! It was during our excellent run at the start of the Cup-winning season and it's one that I'll definitely remember.

"I am just looking forward to the game itself. I know from my own experience that the Cup is held in very high regard with the supporters and they always look forward to the Scottish Cup, as do the players, and I am sure that there will be a terrific atmosphere at Tynecastle as usual.

"Because of my affiliation with the club for eight-and-a-half years, Hearts will always be special to me. I have got some wonderful memories from my time there, not just for myself but also for my family and they are a club that I will always think extremely fondly of. But my career has moved on, it was a great chapter in my life and, as is the way, your life has to move on.

"I will always enjoy going back there."

Taken from the Scotsman