If I can reach final with Falkirk, I can win cup with Hibs, Kevin McBride believes

HIBERNIAN begin their Scottish Cup campaign by making history this afternoon, when they become the first SPL team to meet junior opposition in the competition.

And of course they hope to end up making history too, by becoming the first Hibs team to win the trophy in well over a century.

John Hughes this week defined that elusive cup triumph as "the Holy Grail" for himself and his players, but his message to his squad has been to look no further forward than this afternoon. Hughes likes to say he prepares his team as if every match were a cup final, but in reality it will be Irvine Meadow who approach this afternoon's game at Easter Road in that frame of mind, and the Hibs manager has warned his squad of the dangers of complacency.

Changes will be made to the side which drew the Edinburgh derby last Sunday, but virtually every member of the Hibs line-up will have substantial first-team experience. What Hughes regards as an opportunity to give a start to some of those who have not played regularly in recent weeks will be looked on by those players themselves as a chance to play their way back into his plans.

Kevin McBride, Abdessalam Benjelloun, Kevin McCann and Lewis Stevenson were the four men, on the fringes of late, whom Hughes said he was likely to select. Those carrying knocks such as Merouane Zemmama, Liam Miller and Ian Murray are expected to miss out, but the Hibs line-up should still have a formidably experienced look about it for the Irvine players when they peruse it in the dressing-room before the game. And, for all that Hibs have not won the cup since 1902, their present squad does include players who at least know what it is like to reach a final. McBride and Patrick Cregg, another who could start today, were midfield team-mates last season in the Falkirk side which disposed of Queen of the South, Hearts, Inverness and Dunfermline en route to the Hampden showpiece, in which they lost 1-0 to Rangers.

McBride was the outstanding player on the losing side that May afternoon, but the quality of his play was little consolation to him. "We did well in the cup final, but it's not good enough if you don't win it in the end," he reflected. "It was a big disappointment, although everybody was speaking highly of the team."

Having moved to Edinburgh in the summer along with Cregg, McBride is as eager as anyone at the club to lift the cup this time round, and believes that if a team like Falkirk can get within touching distance of the trophy it is realistic for Hibs to harbour similar ambitions. "For a club this size that hasn't done much in this competition, I think the players and the manager are desperate to well in it," he went on. "I'm not having a go at Falkirk, but I think with the history of how far Hibs have gone in the competition – or how far they haven't – for us to get there, with a new manager just coming in, to get to a final (would be bigger]."

Turning his attention to today's match, McBride said he fully expected a demanding game in which he and his colleagues would have to apply themselves with care. "Obviously we've got to be focused. We don't know much about Irvine, so it's a case of treating them with the respect they deserve. We've got to be professional. We can't just expect to turn up and go and win the game. It's going to be difficult, we know that, but we've got to be professional and try and win it.

"It's going to be a difficult game. They're not going to just stand back and let us play. There's going to be a few challenges going in and we've got to stand up to it. There could be an upset on the cards if they want it to be, but we've got to go there and stop that – as I say, treat them with a lot of respect, and go and win the game."

After being out of action for seven weeks while having an ankle problem diagnosed, McBride came back as a substitute against Hearts. He still has two pieces of bone floating free in the ankle, but has been told that for the present he should simply play on with the condition. "I've been told by the specialist it's just a case of playing through the pain barrier," he explained.

With five losing appearances in the final since the war, Hibs and their supporters have come up against that barrier in this competition on all too many occasions. Provided the team pay attention to Hughes' warnings about complacency, they should at least clear the first hurdle in this year's competition with something to spare.

• A final travel and weather assessment will be made at 10pm to determined whether the game definitely goes ahead.