Hibs hat-trick hero Marc McNulty: We have to believe we can win the Scottish Cup

Hat-trick hero Marc McNulty has claimed Hibs have to believe they can go on to win the Scottish Cup as the Easter Road side landed a quarter-final tie at home against Championship outfit Inverness Caley.

The Capital outfit had to battle Storm Ciara and Lowland League outfit BSC Glasgow to earn a place in the last eight, their reward being drawn with the lowest ranked side left in the competition, former Hearts striker John Robertson’s Caley.

McNulty had Hibs sitting comfortably with two goals within the opening 30 minutes against BSC, his first since returning to the club for a second spell on loan, but Jack Ross’s players were pegged back by a header from Ross Smith.

But in conditions Ross described as “bordering on the farcical” at times, McNulty claimed his third before laying on a fourth goal for Greg Docherty, the on-loan Rangers midfielder’s first for Hibs.

Revealing that the gusting wind was blowing the ball in all directions, McNulty said: “It was always going to be tricky, we knew what they would be like, that they’d work hard and make it difficult for us.

“The wind was pretty strong, it kept changing direction which made it difficult to read the ball, sometimes you were thinking it was coming to you then it would stop or change direction. But it was the same for both sides, you just had to get on with it.”

Admitting he was delighted to be on the scoresheet in what was his first start second time around for Hibs, McNulty admitted Smith’s goal had caused a little worry for him and his team-mates.

He said: “As always 2-0 is a difficult scoreline. If you get a third the game is over, if they get a goal like they did then they are creeping back into it. They had a couple of chances, we were not good enough at times throughout the game. But fair play to the boys, we got the job done.”

McNulty was the second Hibs player in succession to notch a Scottish Cup hat-trick, fellow striker Christian Doidge having scored three in the 4-2 replay win over Dundee United in the previous round.

Revealing he’d claimed the match ball, McNulty said: “It was brilliant, every striker wants to score as soon as possible when they go to a new club. It’s been a while since I played 90 minutes so I have to get fit and sharper.”

And now with a place in the last eight secured, McNulty insisted he and his team-mates have to believe another big day out at Hampden is on the cards.

“We’ve definitely got to be looking at winning the cup,” he said. The club has won it before, Hibs are a big club and we should be winning cups.

“I know everyone looks at it and thinks Rangers and Celtic need to be winning everything, but that’s not the case. If you are in the hat, you’ve got to believe you can win it and be confident.”