Martin Boyle floats in a cross from the right but it's just a few inches too high for Christian Doidge to connect with.

The Easter Road pitch is bathed in glorious sunshine as referee John Beaton peeps his whistle to get us started.

Motherwell manager Graham Alexander tells BBC Scotland: "We've been on a good run of form for six or seven games now, with only one blip.

"We had a couple of supporters put up banners at training just to remind everyone (of the 30 year anniversary of the last cup win). The cup conjures up brilliant memories for fans but we have to get past a very tough Hibs team before we can start thinking any further."

Hibernian head coach Jack Ross tells BBC Scotland: "As the season has gone on, we've got better at dealing with big games. This is a new group and we set them high expectations and that brings its own pressure.

"I think they've learned to deal with that and our response to big games has been better and hopefully we'll see that again today."

Since ending their 114-year wait to lift the trophy again in 2016, Hibs have twice been to the semi-finals, losing in last year's delayed tournament to city rivals Hearts.

The last time Motherwell got this far, they went on to the 2018 final, where they lost to Celtic. However, they have only ever won once on Scottish Cup duty at Easter Road - way back in 1931.

They do, though, arrive on the back of a 1-0 win in Wednesday's Lanarkshire derby away to Hamilton Academical, leaving them without defeat in four games. Hibs have lost once in six outings.

The lack of replays these days means we will be spared the marathon endured in 1976, when Motherwell last beat Hibs in the cup - 2-1 at neutral Ibrox after two draws.

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Hibs ended a long, long wait to be reacquainted with the Scottish Cup with a dramatic 3-2 win over Rangers in 2016. That was the third time the team from Leith has lifted the famous old trophy.

Motherwell have done it twice - in 1991 and 1952.

Hibs have been runners-up on 11 occasions, with Motherwell beaten in six finals, the last of which was in 2018.

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Kevin Nisbet took his tally for the season to 17 goals against Livingston on Wednesday. Martin Boyle set that one up and then converted a penalty for his 15th goal.

Christian Doidge is the third Hibs forward in double figures, with the big striker on 11, three of those coming in the Scottish Cup wins over Queen of the South and Stranraer.

Devante Cole, with 10, is the only Motherwell player in double digits.

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While these two are regular rivals in the top flight, it's been a while since they met in this competition.

The most recent of 12 Scottish Cup ties came in 1995 when Hibs beat Motherwell 2-0 at Easter Road thanks to goals from Pat McGinlay and Kevin Harper.

There may be 18 points between them in the league as Hibs close in on a third place finish. However, the Premiership haul has been shared this season.

Motherwell have been to Easter Road twice and are unbeaten, drawing 0-0 in August and winning 2-0 in February.

Hibs enjoyed a 3-0 victory at Fir Park in early December.

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Hibs have come through away ties against Queen of the South and Stranraer, winning 3-1 and 4-0.

Motherwell kicked off with a 5-0 win at Highland League Formartine United then needed penalties to get past Morton at Fir Park, with both sides scoring late in extra time.

A reminder of the ties to come after this one...

Tomorrow, we have Aberdeen v Dundee United (14:30) and Rangers v St Johnstone (18:00).

And on Monday, the semi-final line-up will be complete after Kilmarnock take on St Mirren (19:45).

The matches at Pittodrie and Rugby Park will be shown live on the BBC.

Motherwell boss Graham Alexander says his side take great confidence from their win at Easter Road in February.

"It's all about feeling good about yourself, and we felt good about ourselves after that game because we went to an extremely hard venue against a very good team and won there for the first time in a lot of attempts and years," he said yesterday.

"It does build confidence, but we always balance that out with what won us the game there doesn't win us the game tomorrow. There will be different players playing.

"We have to change the team, we have to find different ways of winning. We changed the other day to beat Hamilton and we have to look at what we do to win this particular game."

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"We want success," said Hibs defender Ryan Porteous during Friday's media conference.

"We guaranteed European football on Wednesday and now it's about the cup. We want to go and win it and Saturday is the next step towards that.

"We are very close to securing third place, we want to get that done, and we have a massive opportunity to get back to Hampden, right our wrongs.

"Winning a cup with Hibs was my ultimate dream growing up and now I am in the position, we can try and get closer."

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Motherwell manager Graham Alexander sticks with a winning team after Wednesday's 1-0 derby success at Hamilton.

There is a boost on the bench, with forward Tony Watt fit enough to join the replacements, having missed the last four matches.

Manager Jack Ross brings back 18-year-old left wing-back Josh Doig, who missed Wednesday's 2-1 win over Livingston with a knock.

And Matt Macey takes over from number one goalkeeper Ofir Marciano as he has done for the two previous games in this competition.

Hibernian: Macey, McGinn, Porteous, Hanlon, Boyle, Gogic, Irvine, Newell, Doig, Nisbet, Doidge.

Substitutes: Marciano, Gray, Magennis, Stevenson, Hallberg, Wright, McGregor, Bradley.

Motherwell: Kelly, O'Donnell, Magloire, Gallagher, Lamie, McGinley, Crawford, Campbell, O'Hara, Long, Cole.

Substitutes: Chapman, Carroll, Hastie, Lawless, Maguire, Mugabi, Dunne, Watt, Foley.

Good afternoon and welcome to our coverage of the opening tie in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.

All of the teams still standing are from the Premiership and this early evening Hibs and Motherwell go head-to-head at Easter Road.

Who will be the first name in the hat for the semis?

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