REVENGE is a dish best served cold. And they don’t get much colder than a glower from Craig Levein. When his Hearts side were dismantled 5-0 by Livingston on league duty in mid-December, the manager’s bamboozled, enraged, embarrassed look could have melted Arthur's Seat.

Hearts, bolstered by back-to-back wins before the Christmas break, have a chance to redeem themselves today when they host Livingston in the fourth round of the William Hill Scottish Cup.

For one former Tynecastle favourite, Levein won’t need to do much by way of a morale-lifting team talk.

“I would think all he would need to do is show them a clip of the previous Livingston game,” suggested Colin Cameron, a Scottish Cup winner with Hearts back in 1998. “If the players have got anything about them that should be enough motivation. Craig won’t need to do much leading up to that game. It will certainly be a test of character for them. Livingston have proved this season they are a very well organised unit. It will require a committed team which is prepared to make up for the disappointment of the last time they played them.”

Since that dismal reversal in West Lothian, Hearts have picked up again and a narrow win over city rivals Hibs at the turn of the year provided a timely tonic. The chance to make progress in the cup and strive to add a silver lining to a season is always a refreshing change from the frontline skirmishes of the league campaign. Making sure your name is in the hat for the fifth round draw is the main priority … and it doesn’t matter how you get it in there.

“I think it won’t be a game for neutrals in terms of silky football but Craig will not care as long as they get the right result,” said Cameron as he anticipated a crisp, competitive, roll-the-sleeves-up tussle. “I’d say 99 times out of 100 Craig would rather the games were a battle rather than those where you get the ball down. Listen, Craig could get the ball down – he was quite a cultured centre-half – but he loved the nitty gritty and the old blood and snotters. He will have his team fired up, there is no question about that and I expect to see a different performance from Hearts than the last one.”

After nursing the kind of crippling injury list that just about led to a red cross being painted on the main stand, Hearts are benefitting again from the return of key figures like Steven Naismith and Christophe Berra. During a varied managerial career, Levein has only ever made it to one cup final, and that was the League Cup showpiece with Dundee United over a decade ago.

“It will disappoint him because he is an ambitious guy, he wants to win things,” added Cameron of that particular record. “It is something he will be working hard to improve … definitely. Craig went through a spell of not managing and being a director of football. But it's not the same as being in the dug-out. It would have felt new to him when he got back in it.

"But he's the reason why most of the people at the club are there. So he'll feel it's his team now. He’ll know that, success or failure, it'll be down to him. Maybe that's made him more determined. But Craig has never lacked determination. And he's never shied away from confrontation. It's good to see that he's got that back. Hopefully it'll rub off on the players.”