Hearts skipper Christophe Berra warned against complacency after the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final draw left the Jambos two wins against Championship clubs away from the final.
The 34-year-old defender headed in the opener in the quarter-final tie against the second tier’s bottom side Partick Thistle on Monday night but Christie Elliott’s second-half leveller means they will replay at Tynecastle next Tuesday night.
The prize for the winners is a last-four tie with Inverness, fifth in the Championship, while holders Celtic take on the winners of the Rangers versus Aberdeen replay.
However, Berra recalls the 2006 final at Hampden Park where, in his first spell at Hearts, he watched from the bench when it took penalties against Gretna, who had just won the third tier of Scottish football, to take the cup back to Gorgie and consequently urged caution.
“If it was that easy, eh?,” he said. “I don’t think we have ever done anything easy.
“The last time I was involved in the cup we beat Gretna on penalties and that went right down to the wire.
“So it is about getting through. There was a bit of frustration at the end on Monday because we felt we did enough to win the game, they had one chance and scored.
“The hardest thing in football is putting the ball in the net and that’s what we couldn’t do.
“Obviously, whoever get through it is a favourable draw but we are not looking that far ahead.
“We have Dundee on Saturday, back to the league and we want to be top four.”
Elliott admitted the potential semi-final tie against their league rivals offers a “massive incentive” to Gary Caldwell’s side.
“It is the best draw we could have asked for,” he said.
“It is a game we know we can win but obviously we have to put the Hearts game first and foremost.
“We need to beat Hearts so hopefully we can go to Tynecastle and do what we can do and get through to the next round. We have to go with no fear.
“But they are a brilliant team. We had to weather the storm in the first half.
“In the second half we were much better and we created a number of opportunities.
“We have to take a lot of positives and go to Tynecastle and hopefully get through to the next round.”
