The teams are in the tunnel waiting to emerge into a packed and rainy Hampden Park...

Celtic captain Scott Brown has been praising both present interim boss Neil Lennon and predecessor Brendan Rodgers for getting them to the brink of the treble treble.

The Glasgow side lifted the League Cup and established a Premiership lead before Lennon came in and finished the job and took them to today's final.

"Brendan came in and changed our mindset," he says. "We didn't have a great track record at Hampden before that, but he made us realise how to change our mindset, how to improve, how to win.

"Neil's been phenomenal since he first came in. He came in eight years ago when we needed him then and put us back on the map in terms of winning trophies."

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Pat Bonner
Former Celtic goalkeeper on BBC Sportsound

Hearts captain Christophe Berra has been capped 41 times for Scotland and won the English Championship with Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2009.

But the 34-year-old centre-half said "I think this would be the highlight" of his career.

"I have come back to Scotland, to Edinburgh, to my home team and I don't think there would be a better occasion or highlight of my career than lifting the trophy with Hearts," he says.

"In football, especially when you are younger, you don't realise there are very few players who will have opportunities to win silverware."

Indeed, his only previous Scottish Cup final was in 2006, when he was an unused substitute when Hearts beat Gretna on penalties.

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Lisbon Lions Billy McNeill and Stevie Chalmers, who helped Celtic with the European Cup in 1967, died last month and the numbers they wore in that famous Celtic team - five and nine - will be on the Celtic shorts today as a tribute.

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Allan Preston
BBC Scotland summariser on Sportsound

Willie Miller
Former Scotland defender on BBC Radio Scotland

Neil Lennon admits Kieran Tierney not making the final is a "huge loss" but insists Jonny Hayes is an "able deputy".

“Tierney couldn’t make it, he trained Wednesday, Thursday, and you could see him deteriorate as the week went on," he tells BBC Scotland.

"We've given him every chance, but it just wasn't to be - he’s going to need to get the surgery done as quickly as possible.

"It’s a huge loss for us because he’s such a big player for us, but we’ve got an able deputy in Jonny Hayes. We've also got Scott Brown and James Forrest fully fit, so that's a real boost to us as well."

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Neil Lennon has encouraged his Celtic players to embrace the opportunity to achieve a historic treble treble.

“I’m calm - winning the league was a big part of the remit of coming in here, but the players are on the cusp of something great, they should embrace it instead of being agitated - they’re nice and calm and they know what’s at stake," he tells BBC Scotland.

“Hearts are always quite feisty, a tough nut to crack, good on the counter-attack and very good at set-plays.

“We have to try to stamp our authority on the game as soon as possible. We did that in the semi-final against Aberdeen and we’re hoping for more of the same.”

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Neil Lennon is not the only manager under pressure as he looks to secure the Celtic job on a permanent basis.

Hearts owner Ann Budge has never seen the Edinburgh side lose a cup final after three visits.

She has been supportive of Craig Levein in his second spell as manager having previously chosen the former Scotland centre-half to be director of football.

But, as she told BBC Scotland's Tom English, "nobody is bomb proof". No pressure then!

Hearts fans looking for inspiration ahead of today's game can cast a fond glance back to 17 December 2017.

That day, Brendan Rodgers' side arrived at Tynecastle on a 69-game domestic run without defeat under the Northern Irishman. Whatever obstacle that had been plonked in their way, it was swotted away by the Rodgers juggernaut.

That was until it was derailed in Gorgie. Teenager Harry Cochrane, Kyle Lafferty and Manuel Milinkovic were the goalscorers on the way to a stunning 4-0 victory.

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Any good at predictions? Who do you think will be lifting the Scottish Cup?

Click thumbs up if you think Hearts will spring a surprise. Thumbs down if you believe Celtic will complete the treble treble.

After easing aside League One outfit Airdrieonians in the fourth round, Celtic have taken care of three Premiership rivals, all without losing a goal, to reach Hampden.

Fourth round: Celtic 3-0 Airdrieonians

Fifth round: Celtic 5-0 St Johnstone

Quarter-finals: Hibernian 0-2 Celtic

Semi-finals: Aberdeen 0-3 Celtic

Hearts have had the easier route to the final, Livingston in the fourth round being the only time they have faced top-flight opposition.

Fourth round: Heart of Midlothian 1-0 Livingston

Fifth round: Heart of Midlothian 4-0 Auchinleck Talbot

Quarter-finals: Partick Thistle 1-1 Heart of Midlothian

Quarter-final replay: Heart of Midlothian 2-1 Partick Thistle

Semi-final: Heart of Midlothian 3-0 Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Craig Levein is pretty relaxed about the final.

“I feel quite calm, sometimes I get in the place where I feel I’ve done everything I can to help the players, so we’ll see what happens," the Hearts manager tells BBC Scotland.

“We expect Celtic to be Celtic. No doubt they’ll have more possession than us, but I’ll be looking at the scoreline. I’m hopeful we can send 20-odd thousand fans home happy at the end of the game.”

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Willie Miller
Former Scotland defender on BBC Radio Scotland

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Craig Leveinadmits it is a risk to play 16-year-old left-back Aaron Hickey in the cup final, says he deserves the opportunity.

“It’s been a little bit of a meteoric rise for Aaron Hickey, he’s been playing excellently all season in the reserve team," he tells BBC Sport Scotland.

"He came on at Aberdeen and did well, he came on at Celtic Park. There’s no doubt, if Ben Garruccio was fit he’d be starting, but he’ll be out for nine months.

"It’s led to an opportunity for Aaron and he’s a calm lad. It’s obviously a little bit of a risk throwing a young player into a game this size, but doing well at Celtic last week, I feel he deserves an opportunity."

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Rangers have done it three times, Queen's Park twice and Aberdeen and Vale of Leven once.

Now Celtic can join them in having lifted the Scottish Cup on three consecutive seasons.

But they still have a long way to go to equal Clyde's record of having kept the Scottish Cup for the longest period of time.

The Bully Wee's promotion back to League One has coincided with the 80th anniversary of a famous Hampden victory.

Football fans are famously superstitious, but few can lay claim to a good luck charm as old as this one.

Hearts defender Aaron Hickey, at 16 years and 11 months, becomes the youngest player to appear in the Scottish Cup final since John Fleck (16 years, 9 months) for Rangers in 2008.

If Celtic's Karamoko Dembele comes on, at 16 years and three months, he will beat that again.

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