John Rankin believes Jason Cummings is a carbon copy of former Dundee United star David Goodwillie.
And keeping the Hibs striker quiet is key to keeping their Scottish Cup dream alive.
United midfielder Rankin is a big fan of Cummings as they prepare to go head-to-head in Saturday’s semi-final at Hampden.
Goodwillie helped the Tangerines pull off their last Scottish Cup triumph back in 2010 with a goal in their 3-0 win over Ross County and he sees striking similarities with the young Easter Road forward.
Rankin said: “I’ve seen a bit of Jason.
“Some of the things he says are brilliant and he’s got real personality.
“He reminds me of Goodie actually. Those two are so much alike it’s incredible.
“Until you actually play with someone, you don’t get to know their character.
“It was like that when I played against Goodie. But then I saw him from the inside at Tannadice I found out he was such a loveable character.
“He’s one whom I’ll probably remain friends with for the rest of my life.
“He’s the life and soul of the party.
“From what I’ve seen of Cummings, he’s in that mould and got a big future ahead of him.
“He’s got a lot of strings to his bow and he’ll no doubt add more throughout his career.
“Of course, he’s a threat to us come the semi-final so we’ll have to watch him carefully and try to limit his influence in the game.”
United have been no strangers to the big occasions in recent seasons having lost the 2015 League Cup final to Celtic, after going down to Tayside rivals St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup Final the previous season.
But Rankin hopes they can go into Saturday’s last four clash stronger for their experiences.
“I think you learn from those sort off occasions,” he said.
“It’s well in the past now and we are only focusing on this next trip to Hampden.
“Our league form has been well-documented but we’ve got to view this as a break and really just go for it to make the final.”