Livingston boss David Martindale joked that he hopes Hearts have finally hit a bad run at the perfect time as the Lions aim to book a Scottish Cup quarter-final berth for the first time since 2005 when the two sides meet at Tynecastle this afternoon.
The hosts are coming off successive defeats for the first time this season with the visitors aiming to make it three losses on the bounce for the Jambos.
He’s under no illusion as to how difficult a task that is going to be, however, saying: “Hearts have had a wee blip but they’re sitting third in the league for a reason. Robbie has done a fantastic job, their recruitment has been very, very good so it’s going to be an extremely difficult game.
“Hearts have been very consistent throughout the season. Hopefully that’s them starting to go through a wee blip just now to be honest.”
He added: “I try not to focus too much on the opponents but I don’t think it helps going to Tynecastle after they lost the last game.
“They’ve got a great group of players and they will try and rectify that. It makes our task that little more difficult.
“If you can limit what Hearts are doing in the first 20, 30 minutes you can use that to your advantage as the crowd will turn.”
Livi’s disappointing form in the Scottish Cup is in stark contrast to their League Cup form in recent years and the boss admits there’s something a bit more special about the competition.
He said: “You enjoy the Scottish Cup, it takes you away from the league duties and the Scottish Cup has a ring to it. It’s the big cup that everybody wants to win, no disrespect to the League Cup. It’s got that extra buzz at every level of football.”
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