Played: 6. Won: 0. L: 6.

Heart of Midlothian's record in the semi-final and final of the Scottish Cup and League Cup in the past five-and-a-half seasons. Each time against one half of the Old Firm. Not all have been as straightforward as Sunday's 3-1 loss at Hampden Park to Rangers. Hearts took the Ibrox side to extra-time in the 2022 Scottish Cup final and Celtic to penalties in the denouement of the 2020 tournament.

The positive angle is that the club are getting to the final stages of cup competitions regularly, something which should be expected of a club which should regard itself as Scotland's third force. In turn there will be the view that if you keep knocking on the door it will eventually open for you to walk through. That is not quite the case. Just ask Derek McInnes about that as he sought the elusive second trophy at Aberdeen. Eight semi-finals or finals following their League Cup success over Inverness CT and eight losses, including four against Celtic. Still, it is imperative the team continue to put themselves in these positions, to continue hammering away at the door.

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Hearts fans trudging out of the national stadium, whether it was after Rangers' second goal, third goal or at full-time, will have no doubt been hit with a range of emotions. Anger, apathy, frustration. Each may well have been a byproduct of the realisation of just how far away the team are from making that next step to win silverware, to beating one side of the Old Firm in the penultimate or final stage. Historically, it is not something the club have done all that often, just twice in recent memory which ultimately led to two of the biggest moments in the club's history.

It is difficult, there is no getting away from that. It is likely easier to overcome Celtic and Rangers in earlier rounds. These occasions can see them raise their game even further as they know how close they are to winning another trophy.

At the same time, supporters are unlikely to have been inspired by Sunday's performance. To make them feel as if they are on the cusp of cup glory. To make them think they can challenge the Old Firm in the biggest of games. To make them believe.

In the Scottish Cup final loss to Rangers in 2022, Hearts ultimately ran out of steam against a team who, only a few days previous, had played 120 minutes in the Europa League final, substitutes Ryan Jack and Scott Wright making the difference. The latter provided further spark on Sunday, scoring a very similar goal off the bench on Sunday.

Sunday's 3-1 defeat could be viewed as just as dispiriting. Yes, this Rangers team is better than this Hearts team. Money makes sure of that. However, it isn't a Rangers team that should be feared. And it is one which remains in transition under a new manager who was appointed after a poor start to the season. You have to remember, only a few weeks ago Rangers fans were calling for a number of these players to be dropped or demanding they never play for the club again. In front of an excellent goalkeeper they have a backline which is beginning to creak, all the wrong side of 30. Sam Lammers was recently cheered off at Ibrox, while Ryan Jack and John Lundstram were not meant to be partnering one another following an expensive summer overhaul. 

Were they troubled? Were they put under pressure? Were they made to feel uncomfortable? Not nearly enough for Hearts to progress to face Aberdeen in what would have been the first meeting between the sides in the semi-final or final of a competition since 1996.

"The biggest difference against the Old Firm is that, if you make one mistake, it inevitably costs you because of the quality they have and players they entice to the club," Hearts head coach Steven Naismith said ahead of the recent Premiership clash with Celtic. "It's about being disciplined and comfortable in those moments, when to risk the ball in the right areas. Against any team, if you are not willing to have times when you have got possession, you are just trying to survive. You are just hoping for a set-play or counter-attack or mistake which gets you a goal. Then you will try to survive. We can't be like that. We want to be better than that. In possession, you need to be comfortable when they press you and how you deal with it."

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Naismith was bang on the money. But putting those words into practice is always the most trying of tasks and it may take time before that happens.

Hearts did fine in the first half at Hampden Park. They didn't look like conceding until a mistake from Zander Clark, poor decision making to go to ground when Danilo was going away from goal. It was inevitably costly. At the same time, Hearts didn't look like scoring until they were behind and gave up two goals in quick succession once more. 

Going to Naismith's comments, Hearts were willing to have possession but they still ended up, certainly in the first half, having to survive. They wanted to be better than that but in possession they simply weren't assertive enough with the ball when pressed.

In the end it was another disappointing afternoon in Mount Florida against Rangers. A feeling fans are all too familiar with.