HIBERNIAN have long since put thoughts of that William Hill Scottish Cup final to bed, but they continue to shift restlessly.

It is now almost 11 months since the Edinburgh side's hopes of lifting the trophy were torn up and used for confetti by city rivals Hearts, and the shadow of that 5-1 humbling at Hampden in May has stalked them all the way to the semi-finals of this season's competition.

Hibs' prospects of finally getting their hands on the trophy this time will be affected more closely by how well they handle a tie with Falkirk on Saturday, but remain bound to what happened in that final defeat by their neighbours.

It is a point of reference which continues to stick in this Hibs side; the need to divorce themselves from such a painful memory having hardly been helped by a common reluctance to let them to move on. The circumstances of that afternoon meant that it was always going to take a little time and James McPake could at least feel he was well prepared yesterday when asked to meet that final head-on once more; the defender firmly deflecting talk of that day, whether it will play on his mind this weekend and just how long it all stayed with him. "It didn't spoil my summer holidays . . . there is drink to help you forget everything," he said wryly, although you fancy he was only half-joking.

A semi-final against opposition from the Irn-Bru First Division – a side which has had to spend this week getting used to a new manager in Gary Holt – offers hope that the hangover may finally come to an end. The match is the penultimate stop on a clearer route to the final than Hibs may have feared, with Celtic and Dundee United contesting the other tie. The cup run comes as a small mercy since the Easter Road side are no longer able to look forward to matches against clubs from the top half of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

A series of rudderless results, ending with three successive defeats, have left them three points adrift of the top six and with little choice but to pour all of their ambition into the cup.

It proved to be something of a poisoned chalice last season, although McPake has been careful not to be caught glancing over his shoulder to those events in May. "There are a lot of things more important than that cup final," said the Hibs captain. "Yes, it was a bad day and the fans are probably all still hurting, but we would be as well just quitting if that's all we are going to look back on. Am I going to look back on my career and say 'I was a footballer . . . but that day in May?' I'm not."

It was the sort of uncompromising challenge which has made the defender a favourite around Easter Road since he first arrived on loan from Coventry City last term.

McPake spent three years with the English club before returning north, and so could perhaps have been forgiven had he shown a few gaps in his knowledge of Falkirk, yet the club has been sure to fill him in on what to expect from the first division side.

"We have got the people in our club who will know everything about Falkirk," he said. "If you look at Manchester United, they have only played Real Madrid once or twice in the past four or five years but I can guarantee they know everything about every Real Madrid player and what they do. From the reports I've heard, Falkirk are a very good team."