Scottish Cup: Hearts happy to stage Bonnyrigg Rose v Hibernian

Bonnyrigg Rose are hoping to move the tie from their New Dundas Park home

Bonnyrigg Rose have had a "very constructive" meeting with Hearts about holding their Scottish Cup fourth round tie against Hibernian at Tynecastle.

They await a Scottish Football Association decision on the matter.

"We were delighted with an agreement in principle to host it there," said Bonnyrigg official Brendan Parkinson.

"But at this stage it is nothing more than contingency planning by the club in the event that we aren't able to host the tie at New Dundas Park."

The Rose gained entry to the Scottish Cup by winning the junior game's East Super League in 2015-16.

Robbie Horn's side beat Glasgow University and Burntisland Shipyard in the preliminary rounds before disposing of Turiff United and Cove Rangers in the first and second rounds of the competition respectively.

Championship outfit Dumbarton were Bonnyrigg's opposition in the third round, with the Midlothian side winning the replay 1-0 after drawing 0-0 at New Dundas Park.

Over 1500 fans watched Rose's initial stalemate at home with the Sons and kick-off had to be delayed by 10 minutes because of queues to get into the ground.

This, along with other factors, has led Bonnyrigg - which is eight miles from Edinburgh - to seek to play the Hibs tie elsewhere on 21 January.

Hibs manager Neil Lennon told BBC Scotland on Saturday that staging it at Tynecastle would be "great" for both his side and Bonnyrigg.

SFA rules state that "if a club notifies the association that it is unable to play a cup match at its registered ground for whatever reason and the board is satisfied of the validity of such reason, the match shall be played at the nearest registered ground of at least equivalent capacity which in the opinion of the board is most suitable for the occasion".

Spartans' Ainslie Park - with a 3,000 capacity - is another potential venue for the tie, but Bonnyrigg believe "unprecedented interest" in the match against Hibs means it would be better to stage it at a bigger stadium.

"We submitted a letter to the SFA on Friday night proposing that our tie versus Hibernian should be moved to an alternative venue from New Dundas Park on the grounds of suitability," Parkinson told BBC Scotland.

"A small delegation of club officials met Hearts owner Ann Budge and chief operating officer Scot Gardiner where a very constructive meeting was held.

A crowd of 1552 watched Bonnyrigg Rose draw 0-0 with Dumbarton at New Dundas Park

"Not surprisingly we had lots of questions as this is uncharted territory for us, but both Ann and Scot were more than helpful with the advice and support that they were able to provide us.

"If we do have to host the tie at New Dundas Park then I honestly couldn't tell you what the number of supporters would be restricted to. It could be the case that we have as many stewards there as supporters due to access to the ground.

"It would be great if the SFA were to grant us our wish to switch the tie in order to give supporters with a life-long affinity with the club, both within the town and who have long moved elsewhere, the chance to have their day in a venue befitting the magnitude of the tie."