Canning hopes for luck in bid to gatecrash cup final
HAMILTON manager Martin Canning hopes his side can be the latest provincial club to gatecrash the Scottish Cup final.
Canning was at Gretna when they made the Hampden showpiece in 2006, and he has watched on enviously as St Johnstone, Inverness and Falkirk have made it since.
With an away tie against Dunfermline in the fifth round on Saturday, he believes his side can beat their own path all the way to Mount Florida in May.
He said: “If you look at the clubs who have got to the final in the last few years, there is no reason why we can’t.
“Obviously you need that little break as well, that little bit of luck. That’s one of the things in the cup.
“In the cup you have one opportunity so you have to play well on the day, get the rub of the green to get to a final or semi-final and hopefully we can get that on Saturday.
“I was at Gretna when we got to the final. I didn’t play, I was cup-tied, but you live through it and see the commotion it causes, the atmosphere in the camp is great so you want to do as well as you can.”
Hamilton have hardly had the best pedigree in the competition in recent years, but Canning believes they can buck that trend.
He also knows though that Dunfermline will represent a formidable hurdle.
“Traditionally it is something we have never done,” Canning said. “For whatever reason we have not managed to put a good cup run together so hopefully this can be the year.
“But Saturday will be a difficult game and being the Premiership club, you are probably expected to win.”