Cup maestro Mark ups stakes as he sees Hearts as potential winners

So when the Aberdeen manager talks of Hearts as potential winners of this year's competition, it is worth taking note. The Tynecastle club visit Pittodrie on Saturday in a fourth-round tie which will be nothing if not keenly contested. McGhee considers both sides to be amongst the favourites for the trophy and openly admits it is "anyone's game".

Three successive Scottish Cup victory parades through the streets of Aberdeen during the 1980s halcyon period remain highlights of McGhee's career. He also represented Greenock Morton, Newcastle United (twice), Hamburg, Reading and Celtic with distinction, winning another two Scottish Cups while at Parkhead. But it is the six-year period at Pittodrie which really launched his cup medal haul.

He now harbours aspirations of replicating that success as manager but acknowledges that one of the biggest rivals to his plans travel up the A90 this weekend.

"I have big ambitions for the cup. If we can get over the Hearts hurdle we will think we have disposed of one of the potential winners of the trophy," he said. "It would be a huge result for us, but I don't think we should have any fear of big cup games. That's what we're in this business for as far as I'm concerned.

"I think the winners of the cup will come from the SPL. If you start to filter through the SPL and look at the possible winners, you have Rangers and Celtic, the form team Hibs, then behind them you have Hearts, Aberdeen and Dundee United. The draw can be a big help, of course, because someone can make it all the way through without having to confront any of the bigger teams. They can even find themselves in the semi-finals or final if things go their way.

"If the cup was played in a seeded format you would expect the SPL's top four all to be in the semi-final. Therefore, Hearts are definitely potential winners of the Scottish Cup."

McGhee's brief flirtation with the idea of taking the job now occupied by Csaba Laszlo is consigned to memory. He abandoned plans to meet Vladimir Romanov while waiting to board a flight from London to Lithuania in the summer of 2008, which forced Hearts to turn their attentions to the Hungarian.

He is aware many believe he made a mistake by remaining loyal to Motherwell, the club he eventually left six months ago to replace Jimmy Calderwood at Pittodrie. Nonetheless, the 52-year-old harbours no grudges, nor has he detected any bad blood from Hearts supporters over the decision.

"I haven't particularly sensed anything untoward. I said at the time that I think the Hearts job is a brilliant job. I'd love to have been able to take that job. I didn't refuse it because I thought Hearts weren't a great club, or that the job was fantastic, or even that I couldn't work with the people there. I was convinced I could.

"There were a whole list of other reasons like loyalty to Motherwell, personal reasons like my partner being about to give birth; there were all sorts of things going on that meant I couldn't take the Hearts job. But it was nothing to do with Hearts. My reasons were honourable, I made my decision and stood by it and that's in the past now."

Aberdeen will be grateful for home advantage this weekend against opponents who have won only once in the north east – a Christian Nade goal gave Hearts full points in January 2008 – since a Mauricio Pinilla/Roman Bednar-inspired victory in September 2006. Recent matches between the clubs have proven controversial, not least last season's league encounter which resulted in a mass post-match brawl in the Pittodrie tunnel.

Saturday is certain to be just as competitive, although hopefully less troublesome.

"I've got to say that I'm not aware Aberdeen-Hearts games have been particularly fiery, so it's not something I associate with this match," said McGhee. "When I saw the draw, I thought both of us could have done without playing each other at this stage in the competition. Once the draw is made you come to terms with it. We have home advantage and we hope to put that to good use. We had a difficult game against Hearts here earlier in the season, which finished 1-1. We felt as if we should have won that day but we didn't. We can take some confidence from that but we know it's going to be a really difficult cup tie."

An unconvincing start to the season, which prompted a section of the Aberdeen support to question McGhee's tenure only weeks after his arrival, has now subsided. Like Hearts, the introduction of youth has been extremely productive at Pittodrie in recent weeks and it is home-grown talent in which McGhee will again place his faith this weekend.

"We started to look better as a team when the young boys came into the side earlier in the season," continued the manager. "Guys like (Fraser) Fyvie, (Peter) Pawlett and (Michael) Paton helped us start winning games. They dropped out through injury, along with Sone Aluko, and we lost a lot of our edge. These boys are now back and it's no surprise we went to Tannadice and won at the weekend. As much as Hearts might be improving, we feel we're very much on the same curve and that compensates for their improvement.

"I think both teams are fairly similar in their abilities and therefore it's anybody's game. I relish cup ties, especially Scottish Cup ties. I won five Scottish Cups, three of them here with Aberdeen. I never played in a losing final and I've got great memories of the tournament."

If anyone knows what it takes to win the Scottish Cup, it is Mark McGhee. He will attempt to effect his magic again this weekend but is rightly cautious given the threat carried by Hearts.

It would be no surprise to see Saturday's winners strolling out at Hampden for the final in May.