Andy Driver steadily moving back up the gears

ANDY Driver has known the ecstasy of winning the Scottish Cup with Hearts at second hand. Now he wants to experience it for himself.

The 24-year-old winger was a youth players at Tynecastle when Hearts last won the Scotttish Cup in 2006, but since graduating to the senior squad has never been as close to the final as he is now. He has known the disappointment of losing a League Cup semi-final, when St Mirren got the better of Hearts two years ago, and would rather not relive that feeling tomorrow, when his club take on Celtic at Hampden.

“I was ground staff in 2006, was in and around the team and I managed to get a strip,” saidDriver. “I wasn’t even in the official squad, but I got four strips with ‘Scottish Cup’ stitched on them.

“They’re still in the house – stupidly I didn’t get them signed. That’s ridiculous, but I’ve never really been into memorabilia.

“I went to the semi against Hibs and the final against Gretna with friends and family. I was with my mates for the semi and they went mental at the Hibs game. I decided to go with my family to the final – that was a bit more respectable.

“Even though I wasn’t really a first-team player at the time, it was gutting to be so close to it all and then not be a part of it. As a footballer, it shows you what you can achieve and how much you want to win a trophy.

“To be so close now is amazing. We have to concentrate on the game on Sunday and put everything into it. We’re going in as underdogs, but we have to be positive, work hard, get the rub of the green and get to the final.”

For Driver, the memory of that League Cup defeat by St Mirren at Fir Park will make it that much easier to be in the right frame of mind for Sunday’s game. “That taught me that we can’t get so close and let ourselves down again.

“There’s devastation, because you know that a final can create memories that stay with you for the rest of your life. We have to learn from when we’ve not quite done it and under-achieved.

“It’s harder to go in as favourites, I think, and as underdogs hopefully the manager will sort us out and we can get a result. With the results we’ve had against Celtic we know it’s possible. If we play to our best we have a chance.”

By his own admission, the Oldham-born forward has yet to play to his best since returning from a lengthy spell on the sidelines because of injury. But since becoming a regular starter again he is steadily regaining his sharpness. “The first two months back were a struggle. I thought I’d come back and be fine, but in the last few weeks things have been better.

“I’m starting to feel fitter, my touch is coming back and my passing is better. Every week I’m getting confidence back and it’s been nice to get a run without picking up silly injuries.

“I wasn’t able to show the manager what I could do, but I’m now getting a run of games. I’m not anywhere near the level I was at – not by any stretch of the imagination Hopefully, I’m showing enough in my workrate that I want to be there and with a run of games I hope I can prove that to the manager. Hopefully Sunday’s game is one that I can impress in.”

If Hearts do make it to the final, it will be without full-back-cum-midfielder Jamie Hamill, who injured a cruciate ligament in training this week and will miss the rest of the season. “It’s unbelievable,” Driver said. “It’s the worst thing that could have happened at the worst possible time. Everybody is absolutely gutted for Jamie.

“We knew it was quite bad when he went down, but I don’t think anyone knew it was going to be this bad. For him to miss this game is horrible.

“I’ve had problems with injuries in the past, but I’ve never dealt with anything this serious. But I know one thing about Jamie – he’s a quick healer.

“He’s already played this year with a tear in his hamstring and never took a day off. He’s a hard guy and he’ll work his socks off to get back sharpish.”

For Driver, as for Hearts, the season so far has been one of ups and downs. The player looked to be on the verge of leaving Tynecastle a few months ago, while the club have had some much-publicised financial difficulties. He believes that, provided he and his team-mates learn from the low times, they can get the better of Celtic and give themselves a chance of ending the season on a high.

“It would be a massive achievement given everything that has gone on here,” he said when asked what reaching the final would mean. “Anything we get would be a massive positive. I think it shows the character of the boys that we are in this situation. This cup run hasn’t been easy: we’ve already been in two replays to get to this stage. We’ve had to show character to get through them, so we’re kind of going into this game with nothing to lose.

“We’ve had a hard season and we have everything to gain. So we have to try and use everything that has happened this year to our advantage.”