Robbie Neilson has told his Hearts stars they must defeat Hamilton in every single department to secure their spot in the Scottish Cup last eight.
The Jambos boss is well aware his side are favourites to beat the Scottish Championship strugglers but his team need to do the work on the park to make it happen. Darvel caused arguably the biggest shock in the history of the tournament in the previous round by knocking out Aberdeen and while it wouldn't be an upset of the same magnitude, it would still be one and it is something the Gorgie boss wants to avoid.
Hearts have reached three of the last four finals and narrowly lost out each time with the hopes to go that one step better and claim the famous old trophy. Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Neilson said: “We need to work as hard as Hamilton; out-run them, out-jump them, out-fight them then let our quality come through.
READ MORE: Hamilton vs Hearts on TV: Channel, kick-off time and live stream details for Scottish Cup clash
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“There’s no doubting we’re the favourites for the game, hence the reason it’s on tv. It’s on TV because people think there’s going to be a slip up. It’s up to us to make sure there isn’t.
He continued: “When you go into a cup competition, the way it is in Scotland is it’s very difficult to win the league, so the two cups become a main priority to try and get silverware.
“The last two years we’ve managed to get to finals, we’ve managed to get to extra time and penalties, and we want to take that next step.
“To take that next step we need to win the next round. Tomorrow’s no different from that. We have to make sure we win the game and then see who we get after that.”
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