Sergio backs Hearts to get the better of tired rivals
Paulo Sergio is adamant his former club Hearts can end their 10-year wait for Scottish Cup glory if they adopt a bold approach that allows them to capitalise on any Europa League fatigue in the Rangers ranks.
The Portuguese was the last manager to lead Hearts to success in the tournament when he oversaw the famous 5-1 victory over city rivals Hibs in the 2012 final.
Sergio is back in Scotland this weekend to support his old club at Hampden, and he feels Hearts' extra energy supplies could make the difference against a Rangers side who were taken all the way to penalties before losing to Eintracht Frankfurtinsearingsevilleheatin Wednesday night's Europa League final.
"I think Hearts can profit in this moment from Rangers coming from such a big game with a small time to recover," Sergio said.
"With the right strategy and the right attitude on the pitch, it's one game, so of course I believe we can win thiscup.peoplesay72hours is good enough to recover a player between one game and the other, but it is still notthesame.iamquitesure that the Hearts players will have much more energy to spend in this game than the Rangers players.
"Butofcourseheartscan't make mistakes because Rangers are a good team withimportantplayers.the Heartsteamhastobebrave. I’dlovetopressthemandnot 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, Rangershaveenoughtalent to give you trouble."