Hearts' next gateway towards another £3m bounty is tonight's Scottish Cup tie at Hamilton

Other than their opponents, everyone supports underdogs in a cup tie. That means a lot of people hoping Premiership Hearts lose at bottom-of-the-Championship Hamilton Academcial.
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BBC Scotland will televise live coverage from the ZLX Stadium hoping to capture another evening upset in the Scottish Cup fifth round. It wouldn’t be on the same scale as Darvel ousting Aberdeen last month, but nonetheless still cause significant surprise throughout Scottish football. Hearts have no intention of allowing such a scenario.

Manager Robbie Neilson pledged to send out a full-strength team with influential figures like Australian midfielder Cammy Devlin and Northern Irish defender Michael Smith back from injury. Devlin admitted enjoying the shock value of Darvel’s historic victory but knows Hearts are in a similar predicament this time.

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“You hope it’s never you,” he smiled. “We will go in to this game as favourites as did Aberdeen when they went to Darvel. I watched that game and, as much as you think I’d never want that to be us, it was cool to see. That’s because it wasn’t us. It wouldn’t have been cool if it was us.

“It was cool to see Darvel and what it meant to them. They are such a lower-league team playing against Aberdeen who are a great side in the SPFL. I was once in that kind of team against A-League teams. If you win in the league it’s great but they’re not out. They [Darvel] knocked Aberdeen out which is massive for that club and they are through to the next round.

“That will be the same for Hamilton but we have to show a professional performance and treat it like any other game. If we go in professionally and not take them lightly – and I’m sure we won’t – we have an experienced group of boys who will help whoever is on the pitch. We will play our game and fingers crossed we get through.”

He knows it is merely human nature to root for an underdog. “You do. When you watch any sport or any game – like a game of tennis when someone is up against [Roger] Federer and they win when they are expected to lose – it’s so cool. As long as it’s not you on the receiving end of it.

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“In Australia, we have the Australian Cup. Last season there were two [second tier] NPL teams in the semi-finals and they knocked out A-League teams on the way. There was a lot of coverage of that. It was massive. When it’s not your team it’s so cool to see teams doing that.”

Hearts midfielder Cammy Devlin knows his team can't slip up at Hamilton.Hearts midfielder Cammy Devlin knows his team can't slip up at Hamilton.
Hearts midfielder Cammy Devlin knows his team can't slip up at Hamilton.

For Hearts, navigating this particular banana skin is vital to the bigger picture. Last season’s Scottish Cup progress helped earn them a lucrative European Conference League group stage place this term.

They beat Hibs in the semi-final last April and, despite losing to Rangers in the final, secured the tournament’s European spot having finished third in the Premiership. That propelled them into the Europa League play-offs and, after losing to Swiss champions FC Zurich, they parachuted into the Conference League. The prestige, travel, excitement and £3million profit make it an exercise extremely worth repeating.

"When I came here [in August 2021], I knew European football was a thing but I didn't actually see it as a possibility because I was coming to the unknown,” admitted Devlin. “To knock Hibs out in the semi-final last year knowing we had secured third place gave us a realisation that we were in European group-stage football no matter what happens. It was surreal and so cool.

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“Now, eight months down the track, we have played in the group stage in Europe. Obviously we didn't get through but to bring two wins [both against Latvian side RFS] to the club was so special. You could see what it meant to the fans and to do that again is something we are really focusing on. We definitely want to get to the final rounds of the cup. We want to win the cup but we aren't going to talk too much about winning it because we have a few rounds to get there – and the first one is at Hamilton.”

Lifting a trophy would be the next step for a Hearts team which has reached three of the last four Scottish Cup finals. Their renaissance under Neilson has been swift since suffering a controversially-enforced relegation to the Scottish Championship in 2020. Now they want to become European regulars and add a touch of silverware.

“We went all the way to extra-time at Hampden last season at the end of my first year here and I just remember seeing the stadium half in maroon. It was just the coolest experience,” recalled Devlin. “I know the boys came close the year before against Celtic, too. So we’ve all got that bit of hunger to go one step further.

“It would be unreal and that starts again. We went through against Hibs but it will be another tough game away to Hamilton on the astro. The hunger is definitely there in the group to go on and win a cup final.”

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An expectant and demanding support base doesn’t faze the little Australian. Last year’s cup final week turned out to be one of his more memorable footballing experiences. “I loved it. There’s obviously pressure but if you want to be a top player you have to deal with pressure. I was just coming back from injury. My parents had flown over for the game.

“Walking out seeing that half of the stadium just full of maroon jerseys was just one of the coolest things I’ve been a part of. It was an unreal day. We took it to extra-time but were left disappointed at the end. However, it was still a great experience.”