Return to fitness of David Obua and Lee Wallace gives Hearts added potency

As the season progresses, Hearts can surely only become stronger. Wallace is expected to feature in Sunday's fourth-round tie with St Johnstone after recovering from injury. Likewise David Obua. Driver is on the cusp of a first-team return with his own fitness concerns subsided, and Suso is merely weeks away from re-appearing. These players will add extra impetus to a squad already thriving.

Jim Jefferies, the Hearts manager, will always be synonymous with the club's 1998 Scottish Cup success and there are parallels to be drawn between his current predicament and that of 13 years ago. Again he has his team challenging the Old Firm as they embark upon the distraction of the Cup and will want to maintain a run of imperious form which has seen the entire country take note.

According to Dave McPherson, below, who played in Hearts' 1998 Scottish Cup final victory over Rangers, Jefferies' finest achievement this term lies in the fact Wallace and Driver have scarcely been missed.

"Two of the best players at Hearts haven't really featured in this good run, that's Andy Driver and Lee Wallace," he said. "They've done remarkably well without who I regard as their two best players. Their success lies in the fact they are a team. That's been the difference since Jim has come in.

"I would have said they had good players under the previous manager but certainly their work rate you could have questioned at times. Jim's got them a lot fitter since the beginning of the season and that's paying dividends. Whether they are as good as the 1998 team was is always a difficult question to answer. I would probably say the 1998 team was better. You always get asked that and it's difficult to say because it was a different era."

The 1998 cup run saw Hearts avoid top-flight opposition in every round until the final, with Clydebank, Albion Rovers, Ayr United and Falkirk dispensed with prior to the meeting with Rangers at Celtic Park. This time, fate has not conspired so kindly.

St Johnstone, a team with only one loss in their last five outings, are Sunday's visitors in one of the fourth round's most attractive ties. They have not lost at Tynecastle in over nine years, their last defeat there being a 3-0 loss in October 2001. McPherson explained that Jefferies will be thoroughly prepared for the threat posed by a fellow SPL side in his first Scottish Cup match since returning to Hearts.

"The down side is that, when you are doing so well in the league, you can become a little bit complacent against teams you are expected to beat," he continued.

"From that point of view Sunday probably is a banana skin. Knowing Jim and Billy, they will have the players well warned about that beforehand and will make sure they approach the game in the right manner.

"I think you are better playing harder teams in the Cup. When you play against teams that are easier you can become complacent and that's when trouble can arise. Hearts are playing against a Premier League side so there shouldn't be any complacency. They should be going out there expecting a tough game, they will need to work hard to win.

"It's a chance for Jim to freshen things up but I don't think he will do that, I think he'll go with the strongest team possible and just hope he doesn't pick up any injuries. That's the reality of it because this is an important game for the club.

"You want to go on a good cup run and maintain your league form. Taking players out of the team at this stage will not bring any real benefit. The players who haven't played much recently will probably lack match sharpness so it wouldn't be the right time to put them in."

If Jefferies had to work to motivate the squad he inherited from Csaba Laszlo, it was different in 1998.

"I think it was pretty easy for him because the players we had were all of a good sort. He didn't need to motivate us that much," said McPherson. "We had some good young players, some experienced overseas players and a band of experienced Scottish players who had been around the scene for a while. There was a good collective who knew exactly what was needed.

"When you are on a run of results you have a belief there. All you need to do is go out and work as hard as you possibly can. We had players who could create and score goals, plus we had good defenders who could stop the other team. So there was a belief within the squad that hard work would bring us the results we wanted. Jim didn't need to do a great deal with that squad."

Along with assistants Billy Brown and Gary Locke, the latter another member of the 1998 squad, he has instilled similar levels of fortitude in the current group. McPherson, though, harbours concern over Hearts' defensive options should anything happen to Marius Zaliukas or Ismael Bouzid in the second half of the season.

"That area is slightly worrying. When Zaliukas was out Hearts looked frail. Since he's come back he and Bouzid have resumed their good partnership. If they are not together they don't look as strong but together they play well and the defence looks a lot stronger. Ruben Palazuelos isn't a natural full-back either but he has done well since Wallace has been out."If there is a concern, it would be on the defensive side just because of the lack of numbers. On the positive side they are very attack minded and are scoring goals. Rudi Skacel has given them that bit of flair. He's not the hardest working player but on the upside he gives you something different. He gets himself into dangerous positions and his delivery is good, so he is always going to create chances."