Hibs hero has firm belief over landing Celtic in Scottish Cup as one match points to Easter Road hope

A Hibs hero reckons that there’s hope the club can take heading into a Scottish Cup quarter-final next month.

The draw was made for the last eight of the tournament this week. Rangers elimination in shock fashion to Queen’s Park has opened the competition right up with one of the favourite out but the looming threat of a dominant Celtic side still lurks for everyone else.

That’s exactly who Hibs have landed away from home after beating Ayr United as they take the toughest draw they possibly could have. Club hero Ian Murray was at the Ayr game on punditry duties and has cast his mind back to the last time Hibs lost a game for inspiration.

It was a 3-0 defeat to the Premiership champions but several missed chances had David Gray’s side writing a what could have been tale. It may have been a draw few wanted, but that is enough for ex-captain Murray to feel like an upset could happen, with the Hoops likely needing to be dispatched at some point to win this trophy for the first time since 2016.

Murray told the BBC: “It's a tough, tough draw for Hibs. We can't shy away from it, it's a draw that all the teams in that hat were not wanting Celtic at Parkhead, that's for sure. But I'm a firm believer you're going to have to beat Celtic to win this cup, that's for sure, because they're so dominant at the moment.

“It's probably Hibs who are the form team out with Celtic over the last two or three months. Last time they went there, they ended in defeat, but they had plenty of chances that day. They should have scored a couple of goals, and that could have been a different story.

“It's a cup competition, anything can happen, but there's no doubt Celtic are so strong at the moment. You want them in the final because it's a one-off, you never know, 50-50 split neutral venue. You'd want them at home, that's for sure. Yeah, I think probably deep down, the Hibs boys will not have liked what they saw.

“But then I think it changes pretty quickly, your mindset changes, because you always believe in yourself, you always believe in your team and your teammates, that you can go and win the game. You never go into a game thinking you're going to lose, certainly from my experience. But again, we can't shy away from it.

“It's a draw that nobody wanted, Celtic at Parkhead, especially when you're close to getting to a semi-final, which is a good occasion as well. But look, somebody had to get them, unfortunately this season it was Hibs, but Hibs will go there full of belief. And I know there's a little bit in between now and now in that fixture. Supporters, I guess, will get a bigger allocation of normal than they do for the “league, for the Scottish Cup.

“So Hibs will go there full of hope, full of confidence, but ultimately we have to be realistic and say this is a very, very hard draw.”