Glass can be pain to United

"They would rather not be going away to Premier League teams so it was the best draw in the hat.

When the sports media do their previews of up and coming cup games they always try to interview a Dunfermline player with some connections with the opposition or the competition. Jim McIntyre supplied all the lines about Dundee United but in Stephen Glass there was no one better equipped to talk about League Cup success.

Stephen played in the 1995 League Cup Final when Aberdeen defeated Dundee 2-0 with goals from Billy Dodds and Duncan Shearer. Stephen recalled:-

"It was a good time in my career, I was happy to come into the team and then winning a trophy. Happy days, you think it is going to be like this every year but you discover its not.

"I have some good memories, some bad memories, sometimes I should have done better than we did with teams in the cup. Winning it once out of 8 attempts is probably not a great record."

Dundee United halted Stephen Glass's attempts at another League Cup success when they won 3-1 at Pittodrie in the 1996-97 campaign and it was the Arabs again in 2004-05, that were his undoing. At the age of 27 Stephen had returned after five seasons in England where he had made a Wembley FA Cup Final with Newcastle United but in his first League Cup campaign on his return north, Hibs led thanks to a Derek Riordan goal. Three minutes from the end Jim McIntyre scored for United and then 17 minutes into extra time Macca clinched the Semi Final place against Rangers.

In season 2006-07 when Hibs won the CIS Insurance Cup, Stephen had played only the second half of the comfortable third round 6-0 win over Gretna. He was actually on loan to Dunfermline by the time John Collins team hammered Kilmarnock in the Final.

Stephen Glass was brought to East End Park by Stephen Kenny

Stephen missed watching the action because he was being assessed for his 'B' licence coaching badge that weekend at Stirling. He was not concerned about missing out on Hibs glory even though he was still a Hibs player:-

"I knew I wasn't going to be involved anyway so it wasn't a case of missing out on it because I wouldn't have been involved whether I was there or not. I was delighted for the lads who were, delighted for the people who go and support Hibs every week because they deserve a bit of success. They back their team in big numbers and there was a lot of good feeling about the club."

When Dunfermline got to the Scottish Cup Final that same season Stephen Glass had been cup tied, even though he had not actually come off the bench for Hibs.

"It was up at Aberdeen - it was one of those games that was about the last straw. I knew that I wasn't going to be staying at Hibs and I was stripped to come on for the last two minutes but the ball never went out or somebody else got injured and I ended up not going on."

So having missed out on two possible finals Stephen feels that he didn't earn the right to play in either of those finals:-

"The lads that played all the way through deserved a crack at the final. They got it."

The 32 year old midfielder is now progressing through his 'A' Licence and hopes to go on to do examinations next summer. Management is very much in his sights:-

"I think a lot of people are interested in it, but being interested and getting an opportunity to do it are two different things. I think you are better to be prepared; it is something that definitely interests me and I have taken more interest in it recently. I think I should be prepared in case an opportunity comes up."

Closer to the exam time next summer, some of the Dunfermline Athletic youth teams could look forward to being the guinea pigs for Stephen's coaching. Craig Levein got into coaching at Livingston before becoming manager of Cowdenbeath and subsequently Hearts. Now Dundee United manager, Levein will be out to counter his club's unlucky final reverse to Rangers:-

"I think they should have won this trophy last year, they were robbed in the final so they will be hurting from that and thinking that they have every chance to go on and do well. They have drawn a home tie against the only First Division team left so I'm sure that they will be happy about that as well.

"They would rather not be going away to Premier League teams so it was the best draw in the hat. The pressure will be on them because they will be expected to take care of the First Division team. It is a real opportunity for a club like that to progress into the Semi."

That said Dunfermline are going well just now, Saturday's postponement denied the Pars a chance to extend their unbeaten away for to seven matches so Stephen feels that the Fifers could be a pain in United's side:-

"The home team is expected to start well; the away team tries to contain them and do as well as they can in the early part of the game. Dunfermline will give it there all and try and win the game. Whatever our game plan is, we will try and make it work."