JASON Cummings would trade his left arm to score the winning goal in the William Hill Scottish Cup final against Rangers. It is hardly going out on a limb, though, to predict his chances of hitting the target that day.
The 20-year-old striker, named yesterday in the running for the PFA Scotland championship player of the year award, has now scored eight goals in two seasons against the Ibrox club but notching the one which ends Hibs' 114-year trophy drought in this competition would top the lot. He joked last night that he is so confident about scoring against them that he advises friends to back him for first goal scorer to the extent that the odds for such an outcome at the bookmakers have started tumbling.
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"I don’t know what it is against Rangers, I just love a goal against them," said Cummings. "Maybe it is because of the fans and the fact it’s usually a sell-out. That gets me a wee bit more motivated and I always seem to pop up with a goal. I think that is eight in ten games so I’m happy with that.
"I wish I could play them every week," he added. "I do say to everyone to get me on first goal - it’s free money! The odds are getting slashed every week I’m played against Rangers because it’s printing money!
"I have scored quite a few first goals this season, so I think a few people have made a few quid off me, but I’d really love a winner in the cup final. I’d trade my left arm for that. It would be special to do that, especially with the history at Hibs. It will be a massive occasion for the club."
It is one thing to put yourself forward for first goal scorer, but payback occurs on occasions like Saturday's William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final. Let's just say he had a few angry tweets to deal with after he misjudged his 'Panenka' style penalty to put it over the bar with the scoreline goalless, even if the mood of some of his followers had improved by the time he converted his second chance in the penalty shoot-out to seal a 4-2 win.
"I got blamed last week," he said. "The amount of abuse I got last week when I missed that pen ... I think everyone had me for first goal.
"What was my Twitter like after the semi?" he added. "If I scrolled down to the bottom it was just abuse, abuse. If I scrolled up a bit it was starting to get a bit better. Stuff like: “He’s redeemed himself a wee bit”, “Well done, lad” and this and that. At least it went up."
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As it was, Cummings had a premonition that fate would hand him the winning penalty, his intuition apparently derived from numerous hours of playing Fifa on the Playstation. "I was wanting to take the winning penalty, so fourth or fifth," he said. "I was thinking that is normally 4-2. On FIFA and that, it is normally 4-2 anyway. So I kind of took my guidelines from that and thought I’m going to take the fourth here. And it could be a chance to win it. I just fell perfectly for me. It was fate, just fate."
While Hibs 3-2 win against Rangers at Easter Road on Wednesday night was "massive" for their hopes of finishing second and finding an easier route through the play-offs, what state both clubs will be come May 21 remains to be seen. While Hibs must play right through - the two legs of the play-off final fall either side of the Scottish Cup final - Rangers will receive 20 days of rest from their last competitive outing. This is arguably too much.
"Everyone says it is good to get recovery and rest but you kind of lose your sharpness and game fitness a wee bit," he said. "You lose that cutting edge. With us playing that many games, if anything it puts us in better stead. It just keeps you ticking over. They could be a wee bit off the boil with not playing games. But listen, it could work either way."
While Falkirk could feel somewhat slighted by their omission from the PFA Scotland list, it was hardly a surprise that players from Hibs and Rangers shared out the nominations for the best player award in Scotland's second tier, with Cummings joined by midfielder John McGinn, alongside Martyn Waghorn - who got Cummings' vote - and Lee Wallace of Rangers. The League One honours will be contested by Dunfermline duo Joe Cardle and Faisal El Bakhtouai, Rory McAllister of Peterhead and Greig Spence of Cowdenbeath, while East Fife duo Nathan Austin and Kyle Wilkie are joined by Annan's Peter Weatherson and Bobby Linn of Arbroath for the League Two prize.
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