It's only been 10 months since Hearts were spooked in Sutherland.
But Robbie Neilson insists there’ll be no ghosts of Brora haunting his squad as they head to deepest darkest Ayrshire looking to avoid another Scottish Cup horror tomorrow.
The trip to face giant-killing specialists Auchinleck Talbot is certain to send a chill down the spine of Jambos fans unnerved by the memory of last March’s exit to Highland League Brora Rangers.
Hearts hopes were bludgeoned at Dudgeon Park - a result dubbed an “embarrassment” by Neilson. And one which led to a seething support demanding his head.
But the Tynecastle boss, who claimed his squad at that stage still had the “remnant of relegation” hanging over their heads, has been as good as his word that night when he vowed to breathe new life into his side.
Only three players who started Tuesday’s 2-0 win over St Johnstone also began against Brora.
Hearts - then a Championship side - have returned to the top flight with a vigour and are clear in third spot.
Ahead of the trip to face Auchinleck at Beechwood Park - a tight, crackling venue where Hamilton and Ayr have been sent packing - Neilson admitted the memory of Brora would act as a warning.
But he said: “We’ve got a totally different team now. There are very few players who played that night who are still here.
“We go in with a different group of players.
“For me we go into a cup competition, we’re a club that should be winning cups and to do that we have to get through these early stages.
“Yeah we know cup football is like that with shocks. You see in England last week a lot of upsets and this weekend there will be upsets too.
“It’s part of the romance of the cup and we have to make sure we’re ready for it. It’s a different environment to what we’re used to but it’s one we look forward to.
“Going down there will be great, there’ll be 4,000 fans there, good atmosphere and it should be a big game.
“The Scottish Cup is a chance to win silverware. We didn’t manage to do it last year so we have to try and put it right this year.”
To that end Neilson is set to field his strongest starting XI at Beechwood. John Souttar is expected to start again with no advance yet from Rangers to fast-forward his pre-contract into a January switch.
Liam Boyce should start after returning from injury and Craig Halkett is good to go after hobbling off against Saints.
Neilson - who confirmed another of the Brora flops Armand Gnanduillet is in talks with another club, understood to be Le Mans, and could leave in the coming days - is leaving nothing to chance.
He said: “We don’t have a big enough squad to rotate too much. We have to be professional and respect Auchinleck and we go down there and put in a professional performance.
“We’ll go full strength. We’ve got seven games in 22 days. We’ve spoken to the boys about how every game is just as important as the next one so it’s important we go into these matches at it right from the start.”
Despite five tiers being between the Jambos and West of Scotland League leaders Talbot, they are far from strangers.
A January 2012 cup clash at Tynecastle, which Hearts edged 1-0, paved the way for Paulo Sergio’s side to go and win the trophy with a famous 5-1 Hampden demolition of Hibs.
Three years ago they met in Gorgie again, with the Jambos enjoying a far more comfortable 4-0 win.
But this is the first meeting of the sides in Ayrshire and Talbot’s tight ground is set to be packed to it’s 4000 capacity.
Neilson, who took in a spying mission to see Tommy Sloan’s side beat Irvine Meadow 3-2 last week, is relishing the change of scenery.
He said: I went down there on Saturday and I thought it was a really good atmosphere.
“It’s quite close to the pitch but Tynecastle is probably one of the most intense atmospheres you can play in.
“So for us I’d rather go to a ground like that than one where there’s fifty people there. It’ll be a good proper cup atmosphere and hopefully we can show our quality.
“The Scottish Cup is about beating whoever is in front of you. You have to win the next game then see who you get in the hat.
“You can start off against teams and you can struggle in some games but nobody cares until you get to that final.
“For us it’s about who’s in front of us in the first round of the cup, make sure you get a result and move onto the next one.”
