Confident Hibs give Pat Fenlon the belief that he can make cup history

Pat Fenlon believes his Hibs team is coming good at the right time to surprise Hearts and win the Scottish Cup.

Fenlon points to growing confidence in the ranks after beating the threat of relegation to show that his team will stand toe-to-toe with their city rivals at Hampden.

The Easter Road boss said he is not feeling any nerves yet, but he is ready to make history with a first Scottish Cup delivered to the club in 110 years.

Fenlon said: “I’m looking forward to the game, I suppose the nerves haven’t kicked in yet but I’m definitely looking forward to it.

“It’s a big relief to know we stayed in the league and that’s probably where the real pressure was for us. Saturday’s a different type of pressure but something I want to enjoy as well.

“It’s a great opportunity being 90 minutes away from ending that but there’s a big obstacle in front of us and we need to focus on that instead of all the hype that goes with it.

“If Hibs win the cup then all anybody has spoken about is the history of it. We can’t change what happened previously but we change it on Saturday. It would definitely be ahead of anything I’ve achieved in the game.

“The one thing we’ve done okay since I’ve been here is score goals and we’ve got pace and strength so I’m delighted with the way the team is at the moment.

“We have a good shape just now and some fantastic individual players as well as players who have grown in confidence recently.”

Hearts hold the derby bragging rights having avoided defeat in the fixture for three years, including three victories in the SPL this term.

Fenlon admits players like Craig Beattie and Rudi Skacel can be match-winners but he is certain his team can cope with what Paulo Sergio’s outfit have to throw at them.

Fenlon said: “They have some smashing players. We don’t expect anything too different from them. They have plenty of match winners in their team so we need to make sure we compete.

“In our previous meetings we’ve done fine early in the game and we need to make sure that when they get a little spell we stay strong and competitive with them.”

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