Dundee United boss Peter Houston is confident the club’s Scottish Cup know-how will help them when they take on Motherwell for a place back at Hampden.
The Tangerines head down to Fir Park for their quarter-final replay against the Steelmen tomorrow, knowing that victory will see them return to the stage of their final triumph last May.
At stake is a last-four clash against St Johnstone, so the stakes are extremely high.
However, Houston feels the experience and knowledge collected as they beat Partick Thistle, St Johnstone, Rangers, Raith Rovers then, finally, Ross County on their way to the silverware will be invaluable to them.
“We know it won’t be easy but the lads have been there before,” he said. “They have proved they can do it in one-off situations.
“As well as what we achieved last season, we came back twice against Motherwell in the first game and the players proved they won’t give the cup back without a fight.
“We had a great cup tie at Tannadice the last time and we will go at it again. It is a big one and we are looking forward to it.
“From our point of view, I would happily take a scrappy win as long as it gets us into the semi-finals. When you get to this stage of the competition, getting through is all that matters.”
Houston gave his players a longer than usual break from work last week, taking into consideration their hectic schedule during this month.
And the United boss, who has everyone fit apart from Garry Kenneth, wants the players to regain the form they were showing before the break.
“The boys have had time off because I felt they needed a rest, but we are back into it now and we want to keep the momentum going,” Houston added.