Danny Grainger no stranger to final act but craves a starring role

HE has heard the tales of glory, witnessed the tears of woe. Time and again Danny Grainger has been close to a cup-final experience, just not close enough.

This season he is desperate for that to change and he believes that despite all the off-field distractions Hearts can put together a run that will take them all the way to the Scottish Cup final in May.

In 2006, he was at Gretna as they lived out their fairytale but he missed out on a role in the final chapter because a loan spell at Brechin earlier that term had left him cup-tied. In the end his team-mates lost out on penalties and he had the job of consoling his pals.

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In recent months, though, he has learned all about the flipside of that day. These days he shares a dressing room with Rudi Skacel, who played his part in securing the Tynecastle side’s victory and the Czech hasn’t been shy when it comes to sharing his Hampden memories and stories of the glorious repercussions.

“In 2006, when they beat Gretna in the final it was a massive year and, speaking to the boys like Rudi, who were here when that happened, it just makes you want it more and more, for the fans as well. With everything that is happening with the club, we know it shows sometimes on the pitch, so it would be nice to give them a cup run all the way to Hampden.”

This week the Gorgie squad travels to Perth for a second shot at usurping St Johnstone and progressing to the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup. Steve Lomas’s side offer stern opposition but everyone at Hearts knows what is at stake.

Grainger would gratefully risk his Gretna misery for the chance to experience a final from the pitch.

“I have been sat in the stand for three cup finals in my career and I also saw the Dundee United boys win the trophy two years ago. I was still really close to a lot of them and I could see what it meant to all of them and it makes you want have that feeling for yourself.

“They were on the open-top bus on the Sunday then they were away on my stag do on the Monday so it was a fun week while we were away and I’m just happy they all made it onto the plane! I have been in the stands when boys have won and lost cup finals and it’s something I really want to be involved in.”

Grainger left the club at the beginning of United’s cup-winning season and, while the likes of Jon Daly and Craig Conway remained close enough to be enlisted as ushers at his wedding, mixed with joy the he felt watching them from the Hampden seats was a tinge of envy.

In 2008 he’d had another sniff at the showcase occasion but Paul Dixon was preferred in the full-back role, leaving Grainger on the periphery when United lost the League Cup to Rangers on penalties.

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“Hopefully we can get to the final this year. I fell short last season with St Johnstone, with two semi-finals, so I have not had a lot of luck in the cups. I go quite deep a lot of the time but just not far enough.”

But there are still some obstacles in the way and some of them are of the capital club’s own making.

The recent stand-off between Marian Kello and owner Vladimir Romanov means that Hearts have been denied the services of their first-choice goalkeeper. The late payment of wages has dogged the players, who eventually sought the intervention of the SPL. The next wage is due on Thursday but the news that the taxman is again turning the screw, allied to UEFA’s unwillingness to permit a date switch to allow this week’s cup replay to be televised and gift the clubs some much-needed cash, means there is again doubt over the club’s ability to meet all wage deadlines between now and the end of the season.

“You would like to think that won’t be the case. We have had two Sky games in three/four days and that’s money generated for the club. There were a few players moved on in the window, OK, not as many as we thought would move, but you would like to think come payday all bills will be sorted and we can just carry on what we have been doing on the pitch.

“At the end of the day there are bigger clubs than Hearts who are in situations worse than ours, the likes of Rangers, who are struggling as well. I don’t think it’s a case of if we get paid, it’s more a case of when.

“That’s what the boys have now got their heads round.”

After last midweek’s league setback at home to Celtic, Hearts can retrieve the situation in Perth on Tuesday. Grainger is clinging to that and desperate to edge closer and closer to a Hampden showdown in May that would create his own memories worth regaling.