Gary Locke revealed Hearts pretty much knew what the Hibs team would be days before the 2012 Scottish Cup final.
The Jambos famously won the final 5-1, and is still the last time they played in the competition at the national stadium before they head back for this Saturday’s semi-final encounter with Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Locke, speaking on the Open Goal podcast with Si Ferry , explained why manager Paul Sergio wanted their preparation to take place in Edinburgh and that they had been informed of who and how Hibs were likely to play on the day.
“Paulo had said ‘I want them to sleep in their own beds and be relaxed’ and we trained at Tynecastle , which was good as usually before you played Hibs someone would try and watch you," he said.
Gary Locke recalls Stevie Fulton's antics on Hearts' 1998 post-season trip to Magaluf
“I can’t name my sources but we had a great idea of their team on the Monday before we played them. We had a rough idea of how they would shape up so we set up all week based on what we’d been told they were going to do.
“It probably influenced our decision to play Suso rather than Temps [David Templeton]. We knew they were playing a diamond and were going to be narrow, so we knew that if we had two wide men getting at their full backs, it'd cause them a problem.
“Especially with Gowser [Ryan McGowan] on one side and Danny [Grainger] on the other getting up and down, so we had worked on numerous things."
Uche Ikpeazu - Hearts fans should be angry but not at Craig Levein
Locke admitted it was up there with the 1998 win, because he felt he was able to be more involved as a coach given he was injured for the emotional victory over Rangers at Celtic Park.
“I enjoyed it, not more than ‘98, but in terms of I felt that I contributed more,” he explained. “I’d played a huge part in set pieces that season, tactically, etc. Paul would ask what I thought of certain things.
“I’d found out the Hibs team and we’d worked on them playing a diamond and really closely with the backroom staff, so we all played a part.
“Sergio [Cruz] and [Alberto] Cabral deserve enormous credit as well because we were a really close knit backroom staff and I felt I played a bigger part in that final because I never played in ‘98.”
You can also follow Edinburgh Live Sport on Facebook
