THE magnitude of Hearts’ Scottish Cup semi-final against Hibernian in 2006 was clear to Robbie Neilson as their team coach wended its way through the thronging Glasgow streets on its slow drive to Hampden.

It is an experience as a player that the now Tynecastle head coach has tried to ready his squad for as preparations ramp up for a tie unlike any other Edinburgh derby they will have tasted.

Sixteen years is a long time in football, but many of a maroon persuasion will hark back to that 4-0 thrashing of Hibs at the national stadium. With Second Division Gretna waiting in the final, it had the flavour of a silverware decider and it could hardly have gone any better for the Jambos.

With the swashbuckling Paul Hartley leading the rout with a stunning hat-trick, Hibs finished the match with nine men after red cards for Ivan Sproule and Gary Smith. It goes without saying that Hearts would gladly accept a repeat performance tomorrow.

However, despite their 3-1 victory in the league last weekend boosting confidence and expectations, Neilson has warned his players that Hampden - with fans, since some will have played in the 2020 semi behind closed doors - will bring a different feel to the capital rivalry.

“The biggest thing I found was the drive in,” he said of 2006. “Generally, when you go to games an hour and a half before kick-off there’s nobody there. But in the build-up to the semi-final and the final, the streets were absolutely rammed.

“So, we’ve spoken to the players about that and about getting prepared for that, and making sure they’re going to be prepared for what it’s going to be like in the warm-up and in the tunnel prior to kick-off.

“I think it makes you realise the size of the game. A lot of the time as a player you’ll just focus on yourself: ‘There’s a game Saturday, make sure I’m ready’. But when you turn up at Hampden and you’re a mile away and there’s already fans starting to ram the streets, you realise the importance of it.

“For us, we’ve spoken to the players about that, about realising that is what it’s going to be like. You need to be ready for it, so it’s not a shock.”

That hammering of Hibs on the way to a nervy penalty-kicks victory over Gretna in the final was, of course, surpassed by the 5-1 thrashing of their old foes in the 2012 final. A win on this occasion would give Hearts another tilt at winning the cup for the first time since then - and a third attempt in four seasons after defeats to Celtic in 2019 and ’20. It is also expected to bring guaranteed group stage football in Europe and a welcome financial windfall that Neilson believes would allow him to keep improving the squad that has been rebuilt impressively since relegation in 2020.

However, in Neilson’s view, all of that needs to play second fiddle to the simple fact his team are playing against their fiercest rivals..

“I think the most important thing that I keep saying to the players is that it’s a derby,” added Neilson. “You need to win it, first and foremost. The second part is that it is a semi-final, which is a chance to get to a final. 

“What comes from that, whether it be European football or group stages, doesn’t really matter. We need to win the game, so our focus has got to be that.

"We need to make sure the players know that it’s going to be a tough game. It’s going to be a different game. I would expect Hibs to make a couple of changes. [Ryan] Porteous will come back in, maybe [Lewis] Stevenson and maybe [Christian] Doidge, if he’s available. So, then it becomes a totally different team, so we have to be wary of that.”

Hearts have won the cup eight times in their history and three times in the last 24 years but, should they go on to lift the trophy after beating Hibs, so soon after being plunged into the Championship, success this year would be one to savour.

“There’s not been many teams at this club who have won a trophy,” said Neilson. “There’s been a number who have qualified for Europe and a lot of teams have finished third and fourth in the league. But very few have won a cup.

“So, for us, that’s the objective now for the rest of the season, to try to bring a cup back here.”