Grant Brebner, the former Hibernian player who is now enjoying a successful spell at the Australian club, Melbourne Victory, has urged his former club to take nothing for granted when they tackle Kilmarnock in the final of the CIS Insurance Cup at Hampden tomorrow.

Brebner, the 29 year-old midfielder who started his career at Manchester United prior to moving to Easter Road, was involved in a couple of prosperous cup campaigns with the Edinburgh team, reaching finals at the national stadium, but they lost on both occasions, and he now believes they took success for granted in the denouement of the league cup in 2004, only to lose to underdogs Livingston.

"With hindsight, a lot of the boys thought they simply had to turn up to lift the silverware and I hope they learn from that mistake this weekend, because there is nothing like football to provide a reality check if you ever fall into the mistake of thinking that your name is on a trophy," said Brebner, who has emerged as one of Melbourne's most pivotal figures during a season which last month saw them trounce Adelaide United 6-0 to win the Hyundai A-League Grand Final in front of a capacity 55,486 crowd at the Telstra Dome, ensuring qualification for next season's Asian Champions League.

"Back in 2004, we had beaten Celtic in the quarter-finals and Rangers in the semi-finals and we had a lot of youngsters, who probably thought that Livingston who were then in administration would be a straightforward match. But finals very rarely work like that and, although I missed the game through injury, Hibs couldn't have any complaints at the end after being beaten 2-0. What I remember most about the afternoon is that we took 37,000 fans through to Glasgow and their support was tremendous, so it was a terrible anticlimax to miss out in these circumstances.

"I had already tasted that feeling when Celtic beat us 3-0 in the 2001 Scottish Cup final and although we came up against a better team on the day, Hibs have to make sure they don't suffer again, because I know that Kilmarnock are difficult opponents and you could argue that they have punched above their weight once more throughout the SPL this season."

Brebner is currently in Scotland and will not return down under until the end of March, but he has clearly been impressed by the resources at Melbourne's disposal; in Australia, the club, who are managed by Scot Ernie Merrick, are regarded as the Manchester United of the southern hemisphere. He readily admits that he is enjoying football more than for the majority of his SPL stints with Hibs and Dundee United.

"When I first arrived last August, it was a bit of a culture shock and you have to gradually get used to a situation where you are spending three or four hours on a plane for most of the away fixtures, but I have relished the challenge and the sport in Australia is rising in popularity at an incredible rate," said Brebner.

"Melbourne averaged crowds of between 30,000 and 35,000 throughout the campaign, and the Socceroos qualifying for the 2006 World Cup really raised the profile enormously, to the stage where we had thousands of fans who couldn't get into the Grand Final, such was the demand for tickets.

"It's the same, both on and off the pitch, with sponsors flocking to become involved in the A-League, and the amount of young talent has convinced me that the Australians can become serious players on the global stage in the future.

"A lot of our youngsters have already made it clear that they want to make their mark in Europe and even the likes of Archie Thompson at 28 the striker who scored five goals in the Adelaide rout could do a very good job in the SPL if he wasn't contracted to us.

"Personally, though, I couldn't be happier about making the move out of Scotland. I went to the Hibs versus Rangers match at Easter Road, along with my old team-mate, Stephen Glass. The pitch looked terrible and the outcome reflected the fact that, no matter what the other clubs try to do, the Old Firm are still firmly in the driving seat and that will probably always be the case.

"At Melbourne, it's nice to be winning titles instead of just being satisfied with a place in the top six. I still wish Hibs all the best on Sunday, but I'm glad that I went to Australia and it has given me a new lease of life. And, as for the weather"