IT is an incendiary mixture of ingredients. An Edinburgh derby in the last 16 of the William Hill Scottish Cup, with sub plots including Hibs' 114-year wait for this trophy and Hearts 5-1 win against their capital rivals in the 2012 final.

But if we can expect fireworks at Tynecastle on Sunday, it is nothing to the pyrotechnics already experienced by potential Hearts debutant Abiola Dauda in the notorious bi-annual battle of Belgrade. Whilst playing for Red Star Belgrade in the 2013-14 season, this Nigerian striker grew accustomed to having his own fans turning up with fireworks in the fortnight leading up to the powderkeg meeting with Partizan, while his side's 1-0 win at the Marakana stadium in the city in November 2013 had to be temporarily halted as Partizan supporters set off numerous fairly significant fires in the away end. Let's just say it puts the recent scenes at the Stranraer-Celtic or Forfar-Linlithgow Rose match into a bit of context.

"I didn’t know so much about the Edinburgh derby before I arrived but everyone here has been telling me about it," said Dauda, who arrived on-loan from Dutch outfit Vitesse Arnhem on deadline day. "But I think if I can handle the Red Star-Partizan derby, I can handle anything

"In Belgrade, everything starts always two weeks before the game," added the striker, whose Red Star side went on to win the league by one point, from Partizan. "A lot of fans come to the training pitch and they bring fireworks with them and set them off at the training ground. They make us understand that this is a game for them, that we have to win it for them. We have to respect that.

"Yeah, it’s scary – quite a few fans would be there, setting off fireworks at the training pitch. Then there would be trouble at the game, fighting and destroying seats. The last time, there was a fire in the stadium and we had to stop the game. We won that game 1-0 and that was important for the title. If we had lost that derby, our own supporters would have turned on us. I don’t think you could walk the streets for the next few weeks. For sure that’s difficult pressure for a footballer. But it’s about having mental strength."

In Dauda's case, that strength of character came from leaving his family at the age of 18 to make his career in Europe. Now 28, he arrived in Belgrade after four years in Swedish football with Kalmar. "The language, the weather, the people, the food of course – that first year was very difficult," he says. "But it makes me what I am today."

It is no small compliment when Robbie Neilson, sporting his own Scottish Cup short back and sides, says he he feels Dauda is a better all-round player than Osman Sow. The Swede, after all, has been one of the top strikers in the Scottish game this season, has just generated a £1.5m transfer fee for the club from Chinese side Henan Jianye and is jetting back to potentially sign off with a match-winning turn for the Gorgie side.

"If he wants to play then he'll play," said Neilson. "Osman can make something out of nothing, he’s got a magic that he can create something, but Dauda is probably a better all-round footballer."

Dauda's arrival was just one element of a successful deadline day at Tynecastle, of course, with all three of the club's signings - Dauda, Don Cowie and John Souttar - set to be involved in Sunday's televised match. While Cowie has the least recent match practice, Neilson is delighted with the capture of Souttar, a player who he plans to return to his original centre half berth.

Now the players are tied up, focus will at least partially shift towards the future of Neilson himself. Owner Ann Budge hinted in a television interview that discussions about a new contract for their manager would soon be taking place. While there is no sense of hurry, that would surely be a popular development at Tynecastle. "The period that's just past was about all about players, getting people in and getting players tied down on longer contracts," he said. "This period now until the end of the season is a chance to look at the long-term side of things. So it's maybe something we can push forward on. I've had a good time here and I'm enjoying it."

For all Hibs' progress, Hearts boast a physically imposing side which will be tough for the visitors to match. Neilson had an out-of-body experience of sorts when he took in Hibs' League Cup semi-final win at Tynecastle - in a sea of Hibs supporters - but expects things to be different on Sunday. "It was strange seeing so much green at Tynecastle - usually it’s maroon," said Neilson. "It will be a different story on Sunday. I’m not sure if winning at Tynecastle last week will help them - I’ll tell you about 3.30pm on Sunday!"