Robbie Neilson has challenged his Hearts heroes to take one final step into the land of legends.
The Tynecastle boss has steered the Jambos to an impressive third place finish in their first season back in the top flight as well as dumping Hibs to seal their spot in this afternoon’s Scottish Cup Final against Rangers.
But Neilson - who lifted the trophy as a player with Hearts in 2006 - knows that only a victory at Hampden today would seal their place in history.
Hearts are hunting their ninth success in the competition and the first for a decade.
And Neilson said: “It’s not just about winning the cup, it’s the prestige that comes with that.
“There have been numerous Hearts teams over the years that have had good seasons, finished with European football and got to cup finals.
“But there have been very few that have actually gone on and taken that final step and won the cup.
“This group have got an opportunity to do it. We have to make sure we’re prepared.
“They understand that if they do that it becomes a massive thing.”
Neilson faces a massive decision on whether to start fit-again John Souttar for his last game in maroon before he joins Rangers in the summer.
Otherwise only long-term absentee Beni Baningime is out and Neilson is desperate to add a winners’ medal as a boss to the gong he picked up as a player 16 years ago.
He said: “It would be great but my job at the moment is to try and make sure the players are ready for it.
“We have to make sure they know what they’re doing, we’ll decide on the team, the tactics and how we’re going to do that. After that, what will be, will be.”
Meanwhile, Peter Haring could be forgiven for thinking he’d walked under a ladder and across the path of a black cat en-route to his previous two Scottish Cup Finals with Hearts.
The Austrian has suffered nothing but Hampden heartache of the most brutally cruel kind against Celtic in 2019 and again a year later.
But as he prepares for this afternoon’s showdown against Rangers, Haring refuses to believe in curses.
In fact, the midfielder is convinced it can be third time lucky in the showpiece.
The 28-year-old hobbled off in his first taste of the final three years ago, a 2-1 defeat to Celtic, after aggravating a pelvic injury that would end up sidelining him for 16 months during which Hearts were demoted from the top flight as the covid-hit campaign was cut short.
Haring returned from his lengthy lay-off in time to take his place on the bench for the delayed 2020 final - again against the Hoops - only for the Jambos to be on the wrong end of a shootout defeat after a thrilling 3-3 draw.
But as he prepares for a third final in four years the former SV Ried ace said: “Absolutely I’m hoping it’s third time lucky. I've been there twice now. I know what it's like to be there and I'm looking forward to it.
“The first final was just an injury that happened, it was very unlucky. It’s done now, I am not thinking about it anymore.
“There’s no time any more where I think how it was when I was injured or I shouldn’t have done this or that, it’s done.
“I am feeling really good, better than ever, so there’s no point wasting any energy thinking about that any more.
“I think the experience of playing at Hampden can help, and the ones who haven't played in a cup final before saw what it was like in the semis against Hibs.
“When I came to Hearts there were always two massive targets. One was playing in Europe, and this season we have finally managed to do that.
“The other was that this is a club that wants to win trophies and is capable of winning trophies.
“We haven’t managed to do that yet but that has been one of the big, big targets when I signed here. It’s going to be a big, big day for all of us and I just really hope we can make it happen.”
Haring hopes to follow in the footsteps of compatriot Thomas Flogel who was a key member of the Hearts side that shocked Rangers to lift the trophy in 1998.
He said: “I knew of him but I didn’t know him personally before.
“He was here during my first season, he came over for something at the club with the cup winning team in the Gorgie suite.
“So I had a chat with him and he’s a good lad, he gave me some advice as well. I got to know him then.
“This is massive for the club, we saw that at the Hall of Fame dinner the other week when the 2012 team was honoured.
“We all know what that means to the club and how much it means for every player here.
“We are going to do all we can on Saturday to be one of those.”
