Both semis at Hampden

Both William Hill Scottish Cup semi-finals will be played at Hampden Park, it has been confirmed.

Hearts will take on Inverness Caledonian Thistle at the national stadium on Saturday 13 April at 12.15pm, with Aberdeen and Celtic meeting the following day at 2pm.

Both games will be live on Premier Sports, with Hearts v Caley Thistle also live on BBC Scotland.

Tickets are priced at £20 and £30 for adults and £10 and £15 for concessions (under 16 and 65 and over).

Picking themselves up has been the preoccupation of Partick Thistle for most of this season as they attempt to battle back from a poor start and elevate themselves above the relegation zone.

In that regard, the Scottish Cup has been a welcome fillip, their run to the quarter-finals and the fact they forced Premiership Hearts to a replay bolstering any belief that had been dented by a bruising league campaign.

But as they sat pondering what might have been, after later penalty shouts were waved aside to send Hearts into the semi-finals at their expense, it was difficult not to feel sorry for themselves, according to Joe Cardle, who was booked for remonstrating too vociferously as each late appeal was waved aside.

“It was horrific in the dressing room, because we were positive going into the replay,” said Cardle, right. “We knew what Hearts had, they are a good team, but we felt we had enough. Losing is never nice. We could have got to Hampden and a semi-final which would have been some achievement for this club.”

Now, though, everything is focused on the league, with every fixture as important as a Hampden showdown according to Cardle, who joined the escape bid in January and still can’t believe that Thistle remain in such a precarious position in the second tier. “Partick Thistle have been in the top league for so long now and there has been a lot of changes, a big turnover at the club, and I think it has taken the guys six or seven months to work out where they are,” he added.

“I came in January and I said to myself: ‘Why are this team so low down the league?’ If you look at the quality we have in the changing room, it is hard to understand why we have been at the bottom for so long.

“We know we’re in a situation that the next whatever number of games are like cup finals.”