Hibs ready for their Cup close-up as cameras focus on Ayr United shock value in Friday night prime time

When Premiership players see their Scottish Cup tie against lower league opposition picked for live TV, well, they know it’s not because everyone wants to marvel at their ability to get the job done. There’s a bit of the ghoul in every football fan without a vested interest in any specific contest; we all love to see big teams suffer a bloody nose every now and again.

So, yeah, the Hibs boys know that BBC Scotland booked their place at Somerset Park in the full hope – expectation, even – of seeing former Easter Road favourite Scott Brown lead his Championship leading Ayr United into the last eight at the expense of his old club. All good for the viewing figures, obviously.

“The reason the cameras are there is because they probably want to see an upset,” admitted Chris Cadden, looking ahead to the pick of the fifth-round ties tonight, the Hibs wingback adding: “We've got to keep our composure, make sure we take the game to them and be our best.

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“We know we'll need to be our best to beat them. Because if you look through the team, which we did this morning, there's a lot of Premiership players there, so I imagine the quality will be pretty similar.

“Mikey Devlin, for me, is a Premiership player. You've got Scott McMann there, Jamie Murphy, who I played with.

“There's a lot of good players there, so we know that. WE know how hard it's going to be, and we just need to be our best.

“I actually went to watch them a couple of weeks ago, I’m mates with Mikey Devlin. I went just to watch him, not to actually scout it.

“I'll be a bit quieter this week, our communications. I try and meet Mikey most weeks for a coffee, but I've not met him this week.

“As I said before, for me he's a Premiership player. The level he's played at, he's played for his country, Aberdeen and obviously played here as well.

“The level he's been at, he's a top quality player. He's obviously a good player and won't keep an eye on him. They have a good team, play good football, so we're under no illusions.

Realistic to think about winning Cup

“But I think when you come into a club like Hibs, there's a realistic chance of winning trophies. I mean, Martin Boyle’s done it here, the gaffer's done it, and there's a chance to do that.

“Looking at the scenes from that win, and how special it was, it sort of drives you as players as well. It’s probably a bit early to be thinking about that; we just need to get our name in the next round of the Cup. But there is a chance of winning a trophy here, which is great, and wherever you look in the training ground, you see pictures from the celebrations in 2016.”

Hibs boss David Gray is, of course, a massive presence at East Mains. Even when he’s not there, given the enormity of his role on that hoodoo-busting Hampden glory day in May of 2016.

For the players now under his guidance in this first season as gaffer, there is a sense of relief that – for now – they’ve turned this campaign around after a horrific start. And a desire to see one of the good guys succeed in a brutal business.

Cadden said: “I knew the gaffer as a player for his last six months, then he was a coach, obviously, and now he's a manager. As a person, he's been brilliant.

“The start of the season, obviously, wasn't great. As players, you do feel a responsibility. It was the gaffers' first gig as well. You just want to do well for them.

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“We did feel guilty for letting them down, and how hard they work as well. As players, we went out with as much information as possible. Nothing's really changed, as in what the manager does, his message and whatever.

“You did feel a bit of responsibility and a little bit of guilt out there, but since it's been turned around, it's been brilliant. I'm chuffed for the boys, but I'm really chuffed for him as well, because I know him as a person as well.

“He deserves it, the hard work he puts in, and how much he loves the club as well. He's just a brilliant person. It's great for us that we're doing well, but also for him.”

Your next Hibs read: What is Scott Brown’s Ayr United game plan? And how can David Gray counter it?