Livingston boss David Martindale insists it is Hearts who have to handle the expectation in Saturday’s Scottish Cup tie at Tynecastle.
After beating Ross County in the last round, the Lions take on another cinch Premiership rival in the Jambos, who lost 2-1 to Dundee at home during the week.
Martindale outlined his view on the difference between the two clubs ahead of the fifth-round match in Gorgie.
“We don’t budget for Scottish Cup runs, my budget is based on finishing 12th in the Premiership and whereas I know the bigger clubs build in European places, Scottish Cup places, League Cup places, hospitality, season-ticket sales, I have none of that,” said Martindale, who welcomes Cristian Montano back from suspension.
“I would imagine for Hearts, to meet their criteria, they are looking to do well and advance to the later stages of the Scottish Cup.
“We are also but there is no financial onus on us to do that.
“There is no financial motivation from this football club, other than the (motivation of) ambition and success of getting to the later stages of the Scottish Cup.
“Let’s be honest, there is probably more demands and expectations on Hearts.
“I would imagine there is 18,000 fans at home, so progressing to the latter stages of the cup is probably built into their financial projections whereas here it is all about ambition, ambition for us as a club, ambition for us as individuals.
“There is demands on us and we put demands on ourselves to do the best we can every match day.
“First and foremost, it is going to be an extremely difficult task on Saturday.
“I don’t think the result for Hearts on Wednesday night will help our chances going to Tynecastle.”
Martindale, however, insists that “all day long” retaining Premiership status remains more important than winning the cup.
He said: “Financially, you would get a one-off hit from the Scottish Cup but how long would you be in the Championship and possibly fall to League One after that.
“You have seen that happen to bigger clubs than Livingston in terms of fan base and deeper pockets so survival has got to be the main aim for our collective group.”
