Cup final countdown: Pat Stanton won’t be envious if Hibs win

For some of those players, failure to win the cup has felt like a blot on their careers, no matter how feted they were for other reasons. But Pat Stanton, for one, would not experience a jot of envy if the current squad were to beat Hearts.

“Not at all,” he said yesterday. “I’d be more than delighted for them and for the supporters who’ve had to stand it for years.

“Nobody would be more delighted than me to see them winning it. When you think of the great players – Joe Baker, Gordon Smith, Lawrie Reilly, Eddie Turnbull, Peter Cormack – and it just didn’t happen. Didn’t happen.

“We had our chances – and it’s down to the players. It’s not the manager’s fault.

“On the day you’ve got to do it. If you come off the park and you’ve done your best, it’s disappointing. It’s worse if you come off the park and you’ve not really shown anything.

“You’re constantly being reminded how long it is since Hibs last won it. You get fed up with it after a while.

“But who knows? If the players just approach it in the right manner on Saturday, you don’t know what the outcome is going to be. These lads got [the club] to the final. They’ll know exactly what it means to the club.”

Stanton’s main concern in recent derbies has been Hibs’ failure to match Hearts’ determination and fight. He believes the squad have steadily improved in that respect, however, thanks in large part to on-loan captain James McPake, and so is more hopeful now than he would have been a few months ago.

“Hearts are favourites and rightly so, because the recent record of Hibs v Hearts games shows that Hearts are the stronger side, the more determined. But, if Hibs match them in those respects, who knows what can happen?

“Hearts go to Easter Road and go away having taken the points with no resistance. You’ve got to show some resistance and some desire to survive and win. And the players have got to take that on to the park on Saturday. The manager can only say so much. It’s up to them.

“Don’t be frightened of it – it doesn’t happen in your life that often. At least don’t come off the park saying, ‘I could have done better.’ That’s always hard to live with.

“I was in a right good Hibs team and it stays with you that the chance might never come again. Fortunately for me, when I was with Celtic it did come, but for a lot of right good players it just passed them by.”

As well as wanting the Hibs players to make sure they make the most of the occasion, Stanton believes they have to start the game in a composed manner, refusing to be overwhelmed by emotion.

“Do nothing stupid at the start of the game,” he said when asked what advice he would give. “Don’t get booked early with the possibility that, if you do it again, you’ll be off the park.

“Nothing rash – give yourself a chance – and be careful at the start. Don’t go into a shell, but the first 15 to 20 minutes are vital. If you lose a goal or do something rash, you’re on a tightrope.”

Hibs fans have had to learn to be patient when it comes to the Scottish Cup, and Stanton has a philosophical approach to the game, reasoning that as long as football continues to be played, the cup will eventually make its way to Easter Road.

“I would like it to happen. It’s got to happen sometime. Maybe we’ll have to wait till next year to do it, but the chance is there.

“It’s been a long, long time. If they don’t win it this year, there’s always next year.”

Stanton was speaking at Edinburgh’s Festival Square, where former Hibs and Hearts players were taking part in a penalty shoot-out challenge. With goalkeepers Jason Gardiner and Henry Smith on top form, the tie went to sudden death, Hibs eventually winning 2-1.