Paulo Sergio believes Hearts can profit on Rangers Europa League final fatigue by going on to win the Scottish Cup on Saturday.
Rangers endured 120 minutes in the red-hot heat of Seville on Wednesday night before eventually losing 5-4 on penalties to Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt.
Former Hearts boss Sergio is back in Scotland this weekend to watch the Gorgie side at Hampden, hoping they can follow in his footsteps by lifting silverware.
And he insists that with the right strategy Robbie Neilson's side can win their first Scottish Cup in a decade especially with the extra energy the men in maroon will have compared to their Glasgow opponents.
"I think Hearts can profit in this moment from Rangers coming from such a big game with a small time to recover," Sergio told The Scotsman.
"With the right strategy and the right attitude on the pitch, it's one game, so of course I believe we can win this cup.
"People say 72 hours is good enough to recover a player between one game and the other, but it is still not the same. I am quite sure that the Hearts players will have much more energy to spend in this game than the Rangers players.
"But of course Hearts can't make mistakes because Rangers are a good team with important players. The Hearts team has to be brave. I would love to press them and not let them feel their way into the game.
"Squeeze them as much as possible to get the ball higher up the pitch and put them in trouble. I think this is not the moment to give them too much initiative because, with initiative, Rangers have enough talent to give you trouble."
What makes it more special is this will be the first time the now Portimonense manager will be in attendance at a final since he guided the Jam Tarts to a famous 5-1 triumph of Edinburgh rivals Hibernian in 2012 - despite Hearts featuring in two finals since.
And he is delighted to return to the venue of one of the most memorable moments of his managerial career.
Sergio added: "It's always special to come back to Edinburgh but with a cup final, it's even more special," he said after flying into Scotland's capital from Lisbon.
"It's 10 years now since we won the last one so I think it's time to bring a new one for our museum.
"I'm sure it will be fantastic to be at Hampden again. A lot of memories will come back and the chance to be back with the Hearts fans will be great for me."
