Franck Dja Djedje has said that Hibernian are well aware of the potential banana skin that could await us against Berwick Rangers in the Scottish Cup this weekend.
Speaking to the Edinburgh News ahead of the game, the player referenced the Coupe de France game between fourth tier Grenoble and mightly Marseille, saying he loved the fact his former club had beaten the French giants – even though his younger brother plays for Marseille, so he more than appreciates everybody likes a giant killing in the cup competitions in football.
‘My brother may play for Marseille, but I prefer Grenoble, one of my old clubs. I was very happy for them, everyone loves to see the underdogs beat the big team and at the moment Grenoble are playing three divisions below Marseille. It just shows what can happen in cup games. Everyone likes to see the small team beat the big team – unless you happen to be the big team of course. That`s what cup football is all about, teams that are given no chance at all shocking everyone and causing great excitement.’
The same scenario is possible on Sunday against Berwick Rangers and he knows that and the 28 year old said everybody in the camp had got their focus right for the game, and nobody was underestimating them as obviously to get to the quarter final stage they are their on merit.
‘I know the importance of the Scottish Cup, it`s the same in France. Everyone wants to win this competition and because they are one-off games there`s the knowledge that there can be an upset, the small team plays without fear. The fact Berwick are two divisions below us makes it a very dangerous game for us.’
Of course Berwick also host a few former Hibees in the team and that adds an extra spice to it because they will naturally be even more raised for the game in hoping to beat their former club.
‘When you return to an old club you always want to show why you should still be there and so you play strong. We won`t be thinking this is an easy game, we will be taking Berwick as seriously as any team we have played.’
As another good lesson for the player, he talks about the Arbroath game in last round where we had to come from behind in the match.
‘I think the fans were beginning to become a little bit nervous so my goal just calmed everything down and we went on to win fairly comfortably. On Sunday I`d like to see us get the first goal quite quickly, that prevents them from gaining confidence. The longer it remains 0-0 the better they will feel and you don`t want to be getting to the stage of the game where you are worrying that one mistake, one free-kick or corner or a decision by the referee might make things difficult. It is important we are right on top of our game from the first whistle but I`m sure we`ll approach it properly.’
With Hibernian last lifting the cup back in 1902, whilst he admits it would be fantastic to put his name, along with his colleagues in the history books given how close we are now to the final, he had to admit that he’ll take promotion over cup glory this campaign if he had any choice in the matter though.
But given both are possible, why not just be greedy?
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