No-one better understands the play-off agony Alan Stubbs and his team have just undergone than the man who immediately preceded him as Hibs manager and as the men of Leith attempt to regroup Terry Butcher is also acutely aware of the dangerous obsession the club’s supporters have with the Scottish Cup.

Two years have elapsed since he lost his job immediately after the first of Hibs’ play-off disasters, but the former Rangers and England captain admits to having been shocked by the emphasis placed on what is, in the wider scheme of things, the less important competition.

“That was one of the first things that happened when I joined,” he said.

“Everybody spoke about it, the cleaners and the kit people and everybody else was saying you’ve got to break this hoodoo and I was ‘Well, fine, but what about the league and everything else?’ They said ‘you’ve got to break this cup hoodoo’ and that would have been drummed into Alan and all the players.”

The psychological implications of that have overwhelmed more than a few but Butcher reckons Hibs have a not-so-secret weapon when it comes to overcoming that in the shape of their most charismatic and perplexing player.

Jason Cummings has both been tipped to join Rangers and quoted as saying that backing him to score against them in the cup final is ‘free money’, while the conundrum he represents for managers is summed up by the fact that Hibs’ top goal-scorer started Friday night’s vital match against Falkirk on the bench. However the man who gave him his debut just days after being put in charge at Easter Road starts smiling at the mention of his name.

“That’s one thing I do miss, being at Hibs with him,” said Butcher.

“You just don’t know what he is going to do or say. You just laugh at him, because he is a real character. He’s bubbly, he’s a clown but he can be a genius.

“Jason believes a lot of things, some of them nowhere near the truth. You can call him a Walter Mitty, but you also call him a genius.

“He doesn’t overthink anything. A lot of more experienced pros would never say some of things he does in public, but he just says what he thinks because he thinks it’s funny.

“A lot of what he does is instinctive. He can score screamers, mis-hits or tap-ins. He can miss unbelievable chances but he always goes back for more. Nothing fazes him.

“You can’t help but love him. He’s a loveable rogue. You want to see him do well. He works his socks off.”

In many ways Cummings gave notice of how his career might unfold during that 2014 Premiership play-off final with Hamilton Accies which ultimately cost Butcher his job as Hibs failed to defend the two goal lead they had brought from New Douglas Park to Easter Road before losing on penalty kicks.

“He scored two goals for me in the play-off final at Hamilton, one a screamer. Then he missed the penalty which sent us down in the second leg at Easter Road,” Butcher recalled.

““He was out on his feet in extra time in the second leg of the play-off. He went from the high of scoring two in the first leg to missing the penalty in the shoot-out.

“It would have hurt him but he has such a strong belief in himself to come back, which he has done.”

In spite of the distractions generated by speculation about his past and future Butcher believes Hibs can count on Cummings’ commitment on Saturday.

“A lot of people talked about his Hearts connection as a kid, said he liked Hearts better than Hibs. He’s had to prove more than a lot of other players that he wants to do well for Hibs and he has,” he said.

“He is a bit unpredictable but you do know you will get honest effort from him, which gives you half a chance. He is a natural goalscorer.”

Butcher also reckons that the nature of the occasion has the potential to bring the best out of the 20-year-old.

“Jason thrives on big games, as his record against Rangers shows. He loved the derbies against Hearts as well,” he noted.

“It has the makings of a cracking final. You wouldn’t think twice about Jason missing a sitter and then scoring an absolute belter from 35 yards to win it in extra time. Those are the kind of things he can do.

“As a manager, it’s nice to have someone like him in your squad. With more experienced players, you know they are going to do this or that, but Jason has that extra bit of excitement, that devil-may-care attitude.

“You think ‘why’s he doing that’ and then you are shouting ‘great goal!’”

Terry Butcher was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup.