James Penrice’s most vivid Scottish Cup memory was sitting in the stands at Hampden as a Hibs youngster watching Hearts smash five past the Easter Road side and stroll their way to a memorable cup final triumph.
He’s determined to create an altogether more positives memory when he comes up against the Jambos today.
Penrice was playing for Hibs under-14s at the time and didn’t even make it to the final whistle but he’s confident he’ll be cheering at full-time at Tynecastle.
He said: “I look forward to the games in the Scottish Cup and you want to go as far as you can.
“I watched it growing up as a wee boy. I remember my first involvement in football was when I was with Hibs as a youngster.
“All the young players got tickets to go to the 2012 Scottish Cup final against Hearts but it wasn’t exactly a great day as they lost 5-1.
“I didn’t even stay until the end. It was a massive game and it was obviously built up because it was a derby game.
“The score will probably never be forgotten, especially by the Hearts fans.
“But when I was there that day, I remember thinking ‘I would love to do this’. The place was packed and Scottish Cup final day is special.”
He added: “When you look back on your career you want to think about games at Hampden and playing in finals.
“I haven’t spoken to the boys about last season’s League Cup final. I don’t need anyone to tell me about how special it would be to play there.”
Livi have been in decent form since their return from the winter break and the full-back is confident they can take that into battle at Tynecastle - and silence the home support.
He commented: “We want a deep run in the competition. We’ve been playing well although the St Johnstone defeat was a blip and we thought we’d hold on against Ross County on Wednesday but we’ve been playing well and we’re organised and that’s a massive plus.
“I love playing at Tynecastle. You get a fair bit of abuse to be fair as it’s nice and compact and everyone’s one on top of you.
“If you’re winning the fans turn and that will be a big thing, to try and get them shouting at their players as early as possible.
“It’s gone against them the last couple of games but you don’t take any notice of that. It’s a different game and they’re third in the league for a reason.
“They’re a very good side but we just need to go with no fear and make our game plan happen.”
