It seems to be an unwritten rule that all our Scottish Cup ties this season must go to a replay. We couldn't see off Hamilton or Ross County at the first time of asking, drawing with them in Paisley before beating them 2-1 away from home. This time around things are different. Instead of struggling against a lower league side on our own patch we put in a spirited display at one of the SPL's hardest venues and fully deserve another bight of the cherry. You could argue the hard work is done as we've got them back to our place - but you could have said the same about Hamilton and Ross County.
To progress we will need to see us break our home cup hoodoo. Under Danny Lennon we have yet to win one at Greenhill Road - a stark contrast to the days of Gus MacPherson when we didn't lose one. The difference is even more remarkable when you consider he had to face both sides of the Old Firm while Lennon has only taken on one SPL side at home - and in fairness we did draw against Aberdeen. It is a jinx that sorely needs to be put to bed - as does our inability to win quarter-finals under Lennon. We've made three out of a possible four with him in charge and have failed to win the other two.
The original tie in Gorgie was a cracker - I even overhead a neutral saying it was the best game they'd seen in years the other day. So, while it's up against Manchester City against Chelsea on another of Sky's many channels, it has the potential to be an attractive match that is beamed live around the country. Hearts will be no push overs but Craig Beattie's post-match interview suggests the momentum and confidence may be with ourselves. We need to go at them just as we did at Tynecastle - but this time we must take our chances.
A repeat of Saturday's shocking showing will see us out of the cup before half-time. Aside from a wee spell just after the break we were woeful against St Johnstone. Play like that again and we can kiss dreams of Hampden goodbye. There have to be changes and there will be - but not through choice. Paul McGowan is banned while Dougie Imrie isn't allowed out to play. Hopefully Steven Thompson is fit enough to lead the line, while Aaron Mooy would be the ideal replacement for McGowan.
The bans and injuries - Kenny McLean and Jeroen Tesselaar are still absent - mean we can't really drop players who are out of form. Gary Teale and Steven Thomson should arguably be getting dropped after the last few games but are likely to keep their places because there is no one else available. If David Barron is injury free one of them may be dropped to allow Graham Carey to be moved further forward, but it's unlikely he'll be fit enough to play. We'll need to go with what we've got - and they need to come flying out of the traps and not make stupid mistakes.
Hearts are one of the teams that have benefited from the financial fun and games going on at Ibrox this season. They recently beat Rangers and are pretty much guaranteed a place in Europe next season because the Gers won't be allowed out to play. Of course, it probably won't be enough for Vladimir Romanov and we'll maybe see Paolo Sergio get the boot at the end of the season, or early in the next one if his disposal of Jim Jefferies is anything to go by. Still, winning the cup will make it harder for Mad Vlad to get rid of his manager. Some Hearts fans are seeing this cup run as a chance to get revenge for 1986 as we apparently lay down to Celtic, who they'd face in the semis if they won tomorrow night, and could get Aberdeen in the final - the Dons snatching the cup from their grasp all those years ago.
Craig Beattie made his first start for Hearts in the original tie and it was no surprise to see him play a blinder considering we'd previously tried to sign him. He scored one (technically two as there was nothing wrong with his offside goal) and set another one up. If he plays like that again he'll be a real handful, especially as he should be a bit nearer match fitness after his goal in Sunday's Edinburgh derby. It wasn't a surprise to see Rudi Skacel score against us either considering he's banged in a couple of hat-tricks against us in the last 18 months. Fingers crossed lightning won't strike us again.
Those two may be the real danger men but that doesn't mean the other Jambos are useless. Andrew Driver should probably have scored at Tynecastle while Suso Santana is back and also scored against Hibs. Stephen Elliott also looked a bit handy and a front three of him, Beattie and Skacel is a frightening prospect. Despite him getting the boot some of Jefferies' signings are pretty handy, like Mehdi Taouil, Jamie Hammill and Danny Grainger. And if we manage to get through that lot the pairing of Andy Webster and Marius Zaliukas is reasonably solid, with Jamie MacDonald handy in goals.
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