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Midfielder Fraser Fyvie is looking forward to facing up to his old club Hibernian at Easter Road tonight in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.

Fraser spent two years with the Edinburgh side and helped Hibs win the Scottish Cup in 2016.

He said: “Playing Hibs adds a bit to the occasion for me because it was good to be a part of what we achieved in 2016.

“We had a really good group of players and we knew how much winning the Scottish Cup that day would mean to the Hibs supporters.

“All I’m interested now though is going back there and doing well with Cove Rangers.

“We are obviously massive underdogs, so it’s important we go down there and believe in ourselves.

“That’s the biggest thing about cup ties like these, if you go there thinking you can’t win then you won’t.

“Thankfully, that isn’t the mindset in our dressing room or at our club.

“There’s no pressure on us because everyone expects Hibs to win, so we can go out there and give it our best shot at seeing if we can maybe cause a wee upset.

“It’s not as if this is the first time Cove Rangers have played a Premiership side, or even played Hibs.

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“We know what’s expected of us if we are to have any chance of competing with the sides in the top division.

“The difference in fitness levels is the biggest thing, even though we pride ourselves on how hard we work on that at Cove.

“The full-time clubs are always going to have an advantage on that front because they are working on their fitness and preparing for games all week, while we can only maybe do a couple of sessions and have a lot of guys needing to fit things in around their full-time jobs.

“It stands to reason full-time players should be much fitter.

“That doesn’t mean to say we can’t compete with them, though.

“Like I said, we work really hard during the time we do have to keep ourselves in shape and we have already shown we can go toe-to-toe with the full-time sides in our own division.

“Playing a team from the Premiership is a huge step up from that, but the better the standard of opposition the more you tend to raise the level of your own performance.”

Fraser knows tonight’s tie is also an opportunity to show the whole country how well Cove Rangers are progressing since making the step up to the SPFL three years go.

The match is being screened live on BBC Scotland – and a film crew from the broadcaster also came up to Balmoral Stadium to do an interview with Fraser, which will be shown prior to kick-off.

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Fraser said: “It’s good for the club, it shows we are going in the right direction.

“That’s credit to the people who had the vision and belief that Cove Rangers could eventually be involved at these sort of games on a regular basis.

“That includes our chairman Keith Moorhouse and sponsor Terry Cobban, but there are people right through the club who have only one wish and that is to see Cove Rangers competing at the highest level possible.

“We are on the right path now – but we also accept there is a huge amount of work still to be done if we are to remain on that path.”

Fraser also won the English FA Cup with Wigan Athletic in 2013, alongside recently appointed Hibernian manager Shaun Maloney and his assistant, Gary Caldwell.

Fraser said: “I know Shaun and Gary will be very keen to make a positive start to their time in charge of Hibs.

“That spell together at Wigan was very special, particularly because we had Roberto Martinez as our manager.

“You only need to look at what he has gone on to do with Belgium to see just how fantastic a coach Roberto is.

“He was great to me when I played for Wigan and to win the FA Cup as we did, by beating Manchester City in the final, was a huge achievement.

“It’s no surprise that Shaun followed him into coaching, he was always asking questions when he was a player and had his own ideas on how the game should be played.

“That’s why I know Shaun will have left nothing to chance ahead of playing us.

“He will have done all the necessary video analysis and that kind of stuff, to see if he can pinpoint any weaknesses in our side.

“Mind you, we will have done the same, what we do on that front is amazing for a part-time club.

“One thing they will discover is we are a team who like to play football in the proper way.

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“Our manager’s philosophy is to get the ball on the floor and play through each third of the pitch.

“It doesn’t matter who or where we play, he encourages us to do that as a team by working hard on passing and movement in training.

“His philosophy won’t change because we are playing Hibs, it’s something he won’t change for anyone and that’s something I really like.

“It’s why all of us enjoy playing for him and playing for Cove Rangers.

“It will be the same for the Hibs players once Shaun and Gary have got them used to the way they like the game to be played.

“I wish them both well at Hibs, but not for this particular game.”

Cove Rangers fans going to Easter Road tonight will need to provide either a valid Covid Passport [or Exemption Certificate] in electronic or paper format or be able to evidence the electronic confirmation of a negative Lateral Flow Test taken within the previous 24 hours to pass the outer security perimeter.

Please note that the actual Lateral Flow Device itself is NOT acceptable and only the electronic confirmation from the NHS in the form of a text or email is acceptable.

Fans should also note that no bags are permitted into the stadium unless they are for child welfare or medical reasons and where exceptions are made the bags should be no bigger than 30cm x 30cm, preferably see-through.

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Match Report | Hibernian 1-0 Cove Rangers »