As unfair as it may seem, in some ways this afternoon's William Hill Scottish Cup final has been viewed as the aperitif to the main event.

This weekend, the curtain will come down on the Scottish football season. Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Falkirk will contest the Scottish Cup final this afternoon but the reverence traditionally associated with the showpiece afternoon has appeared somewhat diluted this past week. Peter Houston got it right when he claimed that the play-off between Rangers and Motherwell has robbed the final of some of the attention it needs.

The pre-match press conference was rendered farcical by the failure of Inverness to send either John Hughes or captain Graeme Shinnie to talk up the game. But they were not the only notable absentees. Hampden's cavernous media room echoed to the sound of keys tapping sedately on laptops, a small band of journalists clattering out their requisite copy. There was a palpable lack of the clamour and frenzied energy that tends to be associated with a Hampden briefing on the eve of the Scottish Cup Final.

That lack of appetite has been matched in the ticket office. As it stood last night, around 35,000 tickets have been distributed for the game.

Not, of course, that any of this will matter to whoever emerges triumphant from Mount Florida late this afternoon. Those involved in a victory dance will be blind to the sight of anything other than the trophy, deaf to anything other than the singsong plaudits that will befall them. For either side can rightfully claim that lifting the old trophy is a momentous achievement for them and their club.

Peter Houston, the Falkirk manager, will be in charge of the underdogs, but underdogs who will carry the greatest support. Falkirk have the majority of the crowd behind him with around 18,000 believed to be making the short journey to back the Championship side as they square up to their Premiership rivals.

Houston already knows what it takes to win the trophy, having achieved just that in 2010 when he was manager at Dundee United. This week has been one of superstition as he has replicated all the little details prior to that success with the Tannadice outfit. Should he prevail against Hughes this afternoon he will become only the third man to win the trophy with two different clubs: Jock Stein and Alex Smith form that exclusive club.

It would be a different kind of exclusivity that he would find himself privy to should he win the Scottish Cup this afternoon. Falkirk last won the trophy back in 1957 - coincidentally the same year that Aston Villa, this afternoon's FA Cup finalists, last won the English trophy.

Inverness, though, will go into the game as the overwhelming favourites. The Highland club has celebrated its 21st year this season and their fans will want to mark the coming-of-age occasion by lifting a piece of silverware. If they are still around in another 21 years they may never have a better chance to win it.

When Hughes took the microphone at the recent SPFA awards dinner after being named as the Manager of the Year he showed his propensity for an alternative career. He was a painter and decorator in a former life, but it is the colour he weaves when he opens his mouth that would not have him out of place treading the boards. A showman and a comedian, Hughes has nevertheless showed that there is much more to him than buffoonery. His innovative philosophy as a manager is in sharp contrast to his style as a no-nonsense centre-half when anything, ball or player, that fell his way was swiftly booted in whatever direction he stood.

Hughes has adopted a far more cultured approach to management, favouring a passing game that has not only taken Inverness into third spot in the league this season but also given them their first crack at European football next season.

While there are still those within Celtic Park mumbling obscenities about Josh Meekings, the Inverness defender whose handball was missed by referee Steven McLean in the semi-final of the tournament, the furore over the incident last month glossed over the fact that Inverness outplayed Ronny Deila's side for more than an hour in that game.

The expansive Hampden pitch allowed players such as 19-year-old Ryan Christie, son of former Inverness player and manager, Charlie, to thrive. Christie, the Football Writers' Young Player of the Year this season showed a touch and vision against Celtic that, if replicated against Falkirk this afternoon, should ensure that the Championship side find it difficult to live with the Highlanders.

Hughes' decision may not lie so much with his personnel selection but rather than in how he deploys them. This term he has largely favoured a 4-2-3-1 style but it was a more expansive 4-4-2 which triumphed over Celtic. The pace of Marley Watkins that afternoon was a significant thorn in the side of the Parkhead side and alongside Nigerian Edward Ofere, they combined to cause havoc.

Ofere cuts a deceptive figure. Ungainly long legs lend him an air of being imbalanced and yet a decent touch and a strong presence in the air suggest his threat is one which has to be taken seriously. He does not look as though he carries much pace yet appears to find the requisite touch that can pull his away from defenders.

Falkirk's best hope will lie in frustrating Inverness. On paper the difference in quality between the Premiership side and a team who finished fifth in the Championship would suggest a chasm too difficult to bridge - as Rangers found out when they came up against Motherwell this week. Houston has to decide whether or not he gambles on the fitness of Rory Loy, who has missed the last three months with a stress fracture and who has not played since the early days of March. He will also require that the likes of Craig Sibbald, who has shone in the tournament to date can punish any wayward ball that Inverness may lose.

In any case, someone will have cause to drink their fill this evening.