Templeton aims to cement place in Hearts by knocking Aberdeen out of Cup

The winger celebrated his 21st birthday yesterday and would love to mark the milestone with an appearance – and perhaps even a goal – against the Dons.

Following an injury-plagued start to the season, the former Stenhousemuir player has played a part in Hearts' last four matches and, having made his first-team debut for the Jambos at Pittodrie last season, is keen to extend that run tomorrow.

Templeton averaged more than a goal every two games in outings for Hearts' reserve side last season and is keen to show the supporters what he can do in the top team.

He said: "Hopefully, I can be involved this weekend, even just get on the park if I don't start and it would be great to get a win to take us through to the next round. If I get a run in the side then I hope that the fans will see the real me with full match fitness.

"I have not played that much as yet and so have not been as sharp as I would like to be.

"The more games I play, the better I will become, I hope, and it would be good to show the supporters what I can do.

"There is a lot of competition for places here right now and Scott Robinson had been doing really well, only to get an injury.

"But I am sure that we will all get our chance because the club have shown that if you work hard and are good enough then they will give you the opportunity to go out and make your mark. Starting against Celtic the other week was fantastic and I thought that I did okay in that game. It's been good to get another few appearances under my belt since then as well.

"We've got a bit of an unbeaten run going now and we have to try and make sure we keep that going."

Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee paid his opponents a compliment earlier this week when he claimed that Hearts are one of the main contenders to lift the Active Nation Scottish Cup this season and Templeton, too, believes Csaba Laszlo's side have enough quality in their ranks to make a real impression in the competition.

However, he insisted the Tynecastle side can't afford to look too far ahead and instead they must focus solely on the Dons and challenge they will provide.

Templeton added: "When Hearts last won this cup I was still with Stenhousemuir. I think that we have a good enough squad to go on and win the cup this year but we can only focus on one game at a time and hopefully we can get ourselves off to a good start with a win over Aberdeen this weekend. It's always a difficult game up at Pittodrie. I made my debut up there last season when I came on as a substitute in the first half and I think we were down to ten men by that point."

Marius Zaliukas had been shown the red card that day before the youngster came on to replace Larry Kingston in the 1-0 defeat and he would prefer the team did not have to cope with a similar handicap again tomorrow.

"It's hard enough travelling to Aberdeen so I hope that we can keep all eleven players on the park this time around and hopefully come back down the road with a good result."

Templeton got his first taste of an Edinburgh derby last Sunday when he came off the bench to replace Suso Santana for the final six minutes of the 1-1 draw at Easter Road.

And he saw enough to make him believe his side can challenge their city rivals for third place in the SPL table this season.

He said: "It was a great game to be involved in, I only got about five minutes really, and it was a difficult game to come into at that late stage. But, to be honest, I was just happy to have taken part, even if it was towards the end.

"I thought that we could have won the game but we've got to be happy to take a point and that's another game we're unbeaten in.

"I think that third is still a realistic target for us, we're playing well and the past few results have gone in our favour.

"If we can keep getting results like we have in recent games then we are only going to go up the table."

And Templeton believes that Hearts have the ability to test any of the sides in the SPL – provided the team demonstrates some focus.

"We beat one of the top teams in the league the other week when we won 2-1 against Celtic, we just need to keep playing to those standards."

The first couple of months of this season proved frustrating for him as he suffered a fracture on only the second day of pre-season training when one of his team-mates accidentally stood on his foot.

An operation was required to rectify the problem, only for the pain to flare up again in the first weeks after his return to the top team.

That meant spells of three months and then a further six weeks on the sidelines and Templeton admitted that he is now just relieved to have a few injury-free weeks behind him:

"It's great to be back. I was disappointed with the injuries because I wanted to keep my momentum going on push on from last season.

"I don't feel added pressure because there are quite a few younger guys in the side now, a lot of them are even younger than me – and they're starting more often – so I think maybe they have more expectations on their shoulders. All I can do is try my best and keep performing as well as I can."

Having seen team-mate Gordon Smith bag his first goal for Hearts in the Edinburgh derby last weekend, Templeton is champing at the bit to join him and said: "I don't really set myself targets in terms of goals. Obviously. I would love to get my first goal for the first team but the most important thing for me right now is that the team is winning. It was a great goal from Gordon against Hibs last weekend and

I was really pleased for him because he has worked hard in training and I thought that he deserved it."