THREE former Hearts players yesterday tipped their old club to wipe away 42 years of Scottish Cup agony on Saturday.
Freddie Glidden, skipper of the great Hearts side which won the cup in 1956 after a 3-1 win over Celtic at Hampden, and former team-mates Bobby Kirk and John Cumming met up at the national stadium to relive their past glories and look forward to better times for the Tynecastle club.
After watching Hearts storm to their best season in over a decade, Glidden, Kirk and Cumming are all backing them to conquer Rangers. Glidden said: ''I remember when Hearts lost 5-1 to Rangers two years ago and I don't think I can remember so much disappointment on the faces of the fans. It is certainly time for Hearts to win a trophy again. It has been far too long, so they need a big improvement on that day.
''We all think Hearts can do it and I fancy a 2-1 win.''
Cumming firmly believes winger Neil McCann could hold the key to Saturday's final. ''I still go to Tynecastle a lot and, for me, McCann is the main man. He has skill, pace and likes to go past men while making space for others,'' he said.
Hearts' Class of '56 beat Rangers 4-0 to book their place in the final and Glidden recalled: ''I think that was the best Hearts team of all time. We won the league in 1958 by 13 clear points and scored a record 124 goals. Between 1954 and 1962 we also won several other trophies.
''My biggest memory of the Celtic final was going up to lift the cup which was a tremendous moment.''
Hearts were given another pre-final boost with the news that Gary Locke has signed a new three-year contract.
The Tynecastle captain, who is fighting to be fit for Saturday's Parkhead showdown against Rangers, put pen to paper on a contract which will now keep him at the club until 2001.
Locke joined Hearts from Whitehill Welfare in 1992 and, despite being plagued by injuries, has made more than 100 appearances from the club.
He will, meanwhile, make a decision about his fitness for the cup final on Thursday. ''The manager will want to work on set-pieces and that kind of thing before the game and will want to have his line-up sorted out as soon as possible.
''He's giving me every chance to play, but I can't really afford to wait until the last minute.''
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