A young woman telling her husband she would rather party with her friends than watch him play in a Scottish Cup semi-final might normally be interpreted as a dangerous sign, but Liam Craig was more than happy with the news.

Setting aside the fact that wife Laura has been something of a jinx when she has watched them play, the Hibs midfielder play in semi-finals before and he has been on the losing side there is the small matter of her working for the opposition.

The couple met when he was setting out on his senior career with Falkirk and she still deals with the Bairns' ticket sales, standing to pick up a win bonus should they get to the final, so rather than worry about any split loyalties it is perhaps for the best that her friend Lee, whose wedding Craig is hoping to miss because it is on cup final day, has chosen this as her hen weekend.

"Convenient eh! " grinned Craig.

"She is away up north with all her pals this weekend so she won't see the game.

"I don't think Laura has seen Hibs score yet, she's been to a few games (so) I told her she wasn't coming to the semi-final anyway. It's been good banter with her as well.

"She said she would not watch the game either. The fact she works at a football club and she gets a day off, the last thing she wants to do is watch the game.

"She'll probably take very little interest apart from the fact that I'll still be moaning on Sunday and all next week if we don't win."

Domestic teasing apart what is perhaps best is that her employers will not see her cheering on their opponents.

"She wants what's best for me and that's a win for Hibs on Saturday," Craig noted.

"She's been through some hard times with me over the last few years so I think she deserves a break from me by getting to a cup final and not moping about the house all next week.

"At the end of last season when you've only won one game in about 20, it takes it's toll on you to be fair and she's been great over the last seven years but especially last year when it was difficult. This will be a game on Saturday that will be another low, low point if we don't win."

Since they still live in the area his association with his former club still clearly matters to him.

"I've been to a few semi-finals to watch Falkirk and a final against Rangers a few years ago," said Craig.

"A few boys I played with played in the game. It's a game I'm looking forward to, I think it's important we back up Sunday's derby win with a semi-final win, it will be a really good week for the club.

However whereas lifelong Hibs supporter Leigh Griffiths said this week that he would rather not face his former club should Celtic get to the final, Craig was prepared to admit that managing to avoid the two Premiership sides left in the competition had been the better option for Hibs at this stage.

"I would be lying if I said Falkirk was not the draw we wanted," he said,

Yet he knows this season's form guide is not overly encouraging ahead of their meeting with the team that is currently two places below Hibs in the Championship table.

"If you were to ask the Falkirk players they probably wanted us after not beating them this season," Craig acknowledged. "We won't underestimate them, we know how difficult a team they can be. There's not been a lot in the three games even though they've won two.

"Come Saturday that won't matter. We will go into Saturday with great belief that we can cause them problems."

Craig is, of course, acutely aware of the strange relationship Hibs have with this particular competition and, curiously reinforcing that linkage between his current club and his first one, it was when they met the same opponents at the same stage that he first began to understand properly what it means to play for them.

"You see what it means to so many people," said Craig.

"I was at the semi final when they beat Falkirk 4-3 (in 2013) and I had already signed the pre contract and I remember standing in the main stand and looking at the Hibs supporters singing 'Sunshine on Leith' at the end of the game and you just couldn't wait to be here.

"That's what is in my mind this week, going into the game, I still have pictures of the supporters at the end of that game and how passionate they were and how much it meant to them."