Trakys warns Hibs to be wary of Ayr

As a player with German Second Division club Greuther Furth, the 31-year-old came close to causing an upset when they led Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen 2-1 going into the last minute of their quarter-final clash.

But quick-fire strikes from former French internationalist Johan Micoud and Croatian hitman Ivan Klasnic, now with Bolton Wanderers in the English Premiership, ended the dream, Werder Bremen surviving that scare to go on to lift the German Cup in Berlin's Olympic Stadium.

It may have been seven years ago, but the memory still burns within Trakys and, he insisted, will have him on his guard as he prepares to face Ayr United at Easter Road tomorrow, Hibs going into the fourth-round tie very much the favourites despite their current SPL difficulties.

He said: "In cup competition anything can happen, it is just one game. The fact Ayr United are in the Second Division makes no difference. They are a professional club and they won't be coming to Edinburgh looking to make it easy for us.

"It might be the first time some of their players have faced an SPL team but they'll be determined to show their best. We will respect them and over the 90 minutes we must concentrate for every second.

"I would imagine the Hibs supporters will expect us to win and might even be hoping for a few goals but we have to be patient. We'd love this to be a nice game, but being in ninth or tenth place is not as nice as being second or third.

"The important thing is that we win this game. Ayr will be regarded as the under-dogs but the cups in every country give the smaller teams a chance to play clubs in a higher league and I remember in Germany when I was with Greuther Furth being ahead of Werder Bremen with only a couple of minutes left.

"But then Micoud and Klasnic scored. It was disappointing, obviously, but it just shows how quickly any game can change.

"I don't know too much about Ayr but by the time the game kicks off the manager will have told us all he believes we need to know. I realise they are in the Second Division but we've played some bounce games against teams from the lower divisions during that spell of bad weather and you know, regardless of who you play in Scotland, they will be in good physical condition and won't give you an easy game.

"We can't have anyone going out there tomorrow thinking it will be easy."We must be 101 per cent."

Although he's only been at Easter Road a few months, Trakys is well aware of Hibs' tortuous Scottish Cup history, the fact it's been 109 years since that particular piece of silverware was paraded on the east side of the Capital and the scars of last season's campaign still very much in evidence.

Sitting in the foyer of the West Stand under a painting depicting former Hibs captain Pat Stanton clutching the League Cup of 1972, Trakys revealed he's fully aware of the past having made good use of the internet, conscious of the fact great teams such as the Famous Five and Turnbull's Tornadoes were unable to break the Scottish Cup hoodoo.

"I've done my research," he said, "And it does surprise me that a club such as Hibs haven't won the Cup in so many years. But who is to say it won't happen this year? You need a bit of luck in the draw, it's not always the strongest team or the favourites who win."

Hibs could neither be labelled the strongest team entering the competition at this stage and given both current form and their cup history, nor could they be tagged favourites, but Trakys admitted tomorrow's match presented an opportunity for Colin Calderwood's players to give their season a belated kick-start.

Referring to the fact Hibs are his 15th team in a career which has taken him from Lithuania via Russia, Iceland, Germany, Azerbaijan and Greece to Scotland, Trakys went on: "I know our fans aren't happy but I do feel we have a good team and good players.

"Unfortunately we are not taking points and all the players are disappointed about the situation we find ourselves in. It would be good to get the win tomorrow, not just to get into the next round of the Cup but to help lift confidence.

"If we can start winning games we'll quickly move up the table as Aberdeen have although we all thought that was going to happen after we beat Rangers and then Motherwell. We have to concentrate more, in some games the opposition are getting three shots and scoring two goals."

Trakys, however, was quick to add that Hibs also need to be finding the net more often. He said: "Hearts had a lot of possession against us last weekend but we still had some chances only for them to score a few minutes from time which wasn't easy to take."

A late addition to former boss John Hughes' squad, Trakys has still to add his name to the list of Easter Road goalscorers, a fact of which he is very conscious, although he insisted: "As a striker I must score goals but that hasn't happened yet. But the team is more important than me. If I do not score and the team wins I am happy. If the team wins and I score than that is double better."

And Trakys believes that Hibs are slowly but surely heading in the right direction, adamant the return of long-term injury victims Merouane Zemmama and Darryl Duffy can only engender an upward swing in the club's fortunes. "I think we have come close in our last couple of games, against Dundee United and Hearts. Now we just need a win. It's good to have Zouma and Darryl coming back and, who knows, the manager might add some new players in the next few weeks. We've got a lot of important games coming up in a short space of time after tomorrow so a win tomorrow would help us all.

"Football is a nice game, but it's far nicer when you are winning."