Elder statesman of Hibs' youth squad seeking to utilise experience and sink Rangers in cup semi-final clash

Two years ago he was very much the "baby" of the team, just 16 at the start of the season which saw Hibs Under-19 side sweep to an unprecedented league and cup double.

Today Scott Smith is very much the father figure as he seeks to lead the Easter Road youngsters back to Hampden in search of further glory in the SFA Youth Cup.

However, to realise that dream the young Hibees face the unenviable task of taking on Rangers, looking to make the final for the fifth year in succession, in their own backyard at Ibrox in tomorrow's semi-final. Difficult? Yes, admits the Hibs captain, but certainly not mission impossible even if the Glasgow youngsters beat him and his team-mates by a convincing 4-1 margin only a couple of weeks ago.

Pointing to the fact the sides had drawn at Murray Park earlier in the season and to the way Hibs inflicted a 1-0 defeat on arch-rivals Hearts at Tynecastle two rounds ago having been well beaten by the young Jambos in a league match, Smith said: "The one thing we are is we are a team, we stick together.

"We'll be looking for a good team performance and normally when you get that, all 11 pulling each other through, then the result comes with it.

"We've had a good run in the cup, beating Hearts at Tynecastle and following it up with a hard-earned victory after extra-time against Falkirk in the quarter-final. Of course tomorrow is going to be a tough game - playing at Ibrox will be a first for all of us - but we are looking forward to it."

And Smith believes the Hibs kids need to reproduce the performance which saw off Hearts, saying: "When they beat us in the league we simply just didn't turn up that day. But we went to Tynecastle with a chip on our shoulders, we went to get the result we wanted, everyone put in a performance and that's what we need at Ibrox."

Although he insisted it was far too early to even think of a Hampden return, Smith made it clear that's exactly where he wants to be heading come the final whistle tomorrow.

He said: "I was lucky enough to play in the final at Hampden two years ago and I want to go back this year and have another shot at winning the cup again.

"It was a fantastic season, winning the league with Kurtis Byrne scoring in the last minute at Motherwell and then doing the same at the end of extra-time against Rangers in the cup final only a few days later. You couldn't have written the script."

Smith admitted that at that time he was surprised to find himself plunged straight into under-19 football in what was his first season as a professional player. He said: "I'd come in to start training and didn't really know what it would be like, but I got off to a flier.

"I played in a few friendlies, did well and Alistair Stevenson and James McDonaugh (the club's youth coaches] had faith in me, they kept playing me and I'll always be thankful to them for that.

"It was a brilliant season, everything that could have gone right for us went right. We only lost two games all season and went right through to February unbeaten."

Smith also recalls how the older members of that squad took him under their wing and nursed him along, conscious of how, now, that responsibility rests on his shoulders.

He said: "Guys like Sean Welsh and Lee Currie helped me, they encouraged me. I was also playing alongside Ewan Moyes who kept praising me all the time. As a youngster you make mistakes but you must learn from them and when I did so, these guys were telling me to put it our of my mind and just get on with the game.

"We've a few younger lads in the team now so I look back and remember what those guys did for me, that I was the youngster once and to encourage them the way I was helped.

"Hopefully we'll get a few Hibs fans coming through to support us, that would be a bonus."

While a Hampden return is the immediate goal, the long-term aim is to force his way into boss Colin Calderwood's first team plans the way Paul Hanlon, David Wotherspoon and Callum Booth - all members of that all-conquering under-19 side - have done.

Smith, who was given a taste of top flight action along with Scott Taggart - yet another team-mate from two years ago - in Monday night's friendly against Bohemians, with the youngsters earning the praise of their manager for their second-half performances, said: "That's why you are in this business, to get in the first team. I have to keep training hard, playing well each week, hope to catch the eye and if the chance comes along then I have to be ready to grab it with both hands.

"People tend to forget Paul was part of the under-19 squad back then but got early promotion under Mixu Paatelainen while both David and Callum have done just as well in the first team. I also look at guys like Jamie Ness, Danny Wilson, Gregg Wylde and Kyle Hutton who were in the Rangers side we beat in the final and where they are playing now.

"That's where I want to get to, but I have to keep learning all the time, pushing myself on and hopefully I'll get there."

A former pupil of Boroughmuir High School - a rugby-playing establishment which was also attended by Hibs skipper Ian Murray - Smith, who clinched a new two-year deal last June, revealed he was once signed for Hearts although he's been a lifelong supporter of the Easter Road outfit.

He said: "I didn't play football at school but for Cavalry Park Boys Club. I started there at under-7s, my Dad Billy helped take the team and has played a big part in my career. Not many people like me saying this, but I signed for Hearts and was there from under-9s to under-13s but I was released which was a setback.

"Thankfully Hibs had faith in me, I came along to a few training sessions, played a match and was signed for the under-14s.

"Then I was lucky enough to get a full-time contract when I was 16. I've enjoyed every minute. Every manager, every coach I have worked with has been brilliant for me, I've learned a lot.

"I've been lucky enough to be capped by Scotland at every level through to under-19s and had the great honour of captaining the under-17s against Italy."

Leading Hibs up the steps at Hampden to collect the SFA Youth Cup would be something else again, but, the youngster from Fairmilehead insisted, nothing could be further from his thoughts today.

He said: "If we can produce a performance to beat Rangers we'd still have another huge game at Hampden against either Celtic or Livingston who defeated us in the quarter-finals last season.

"But we're not even thinking any further ahead than tomorrow."

Kick-off for the semi-final at Ibrox tomorrow is at 2pm. Travelling Hibs fans will be housed in the east enclosure of the Main Stand. Admission, which will be cash-at-the-gate, is 4 (adults), 1 (children).