The Scottish Cup draw threw up a couple of interesting possibilities for Hibernian yesterday, not least being an 'alternative' Edinburgh Derby should Edinburgh City prevail in their 4th round tie against Montrose due to be played at Meadowbank Stadium this week. Should the SFL Division Three side come through the test it would mean a couple of former Hibernian stars returning to Easter Road - including the man who was between the posts the last time silverware was paraded around the stadium!

Andy McNeil is certainly no stranger to Hibernian supporters, and the CIS Insurance Cup winning goalkeeper would certainly relish returning to Edinburgh in the 5th Round. First however he needs to help his team-mates overcome the challenge of the East of Scotland League side - and that will be no easy task for Montrose, who are currently struggling at the foot of their division nine points adrift of Elgin City who have a game in hand.

No matter their eventual opponents Hibernian learned enough from the challenge of Irvine Meadow on Saturday not to take anything or anyone for granted, although Merouane Zemmama did not feel the side were taken by surprise by the junior side on Saturday: "I was not surprised - we expected them to work hard and they did. The pitch was not in good condition and that stopped us passing the ball better, and that is something we have to address for the next game. But it was a very hard game against a junior team - they worked very hard and there was not much room. We have to play better than we did; we have to have the right mindset against opponents who are not in the SPL.

"I think we need to show more character and core spirit against such teams, but it is good that we have gone through to the next round - now we must retain our focus and do a lot better in the next match."   While the visitors flew the flag superbly well for the Scottish junior game, from the moment Zemmama's strike bulged the net just before half-time there was no doubt who the eventual winners would be . Perhaps the disappointment for the home support was that there was not to be an avalanche of goals, but at the same time there was a great deal of respect from all sides for the manner in which the junior side fought to the final whistle, rewarded if not by passage to the next round at least by the knowledge that they had made their mark on the game.

For Zemmama it was the most frustrating afternoon of the season as he found it impossible to find the space he sought - that of course will be seen by Irvine Meadow as being their biggest success, knowing that had he done so then a very different final result would have been likely: "The manager told us we needed to pass the ball a lot better, he told us at half-time to play better and score more goals. We tried to do that but it did not happen, and now we need to turn our focus to the next game and forget about Saturday. It was difficult playing Hearts and then Irvine Meadow - but we are professionals and we need to act like professionals, with the focus, spirit and determination needed when you play for yourself and for this club - you need to do your best every week."