Clydebank boss Gordon Moffat joked that he’ll shake Dwight Gayle’s hand for his part in wrecking Liverpool’s Premier League title challenge 11 years ago.

But the Manchester United fan is deadly serious about wanting to deal the former Crystal Palace ace and his Hibs team mates a bloody nose at Easter Road this afternoon. Moffat knows the West of Scotland Premier League leaders are massive underdogs but has left no stone unturned in his preparation for the biggest game since they returned as a force 22 years ago.

That’s included enlisting an analyst to study David Gray’s side, sifting through hours upon hours of footage and even taking on a friendly on Monday night on a pitch with the exact same dimensions as Easter Road. But when it comes to the crunch this afternoon the Bankies boss knows his players will still need to run harder than they possibly ever have to stop high flying Hibs.

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Gayle climbed off the bench to net a double for Palace in a 3-3 draw with Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool in the penultimate game of the 2013-14 season as the Anfield side blew their title chances by two points. The veteran hitman has hit a hot streak for Hibs too.

And Moffat said: “I’ll probably shake Dwight Gayle’s hand for those goals he scored against Liverpool for Crystal Palace during the run in back in 2014. Liverpool had been 3-0 up but he scored two late goals and it ended 3-3. I’m a Man United fan so I enjoyed that!

“Seriously though, we know his quality and, not just Dwight Gayle, but Hibs have quality right through their team. We recognise the gulf in levels, we're playing a full time side and a good one at that.

"But it's a game of football. We’re not going over there to just sit in and accept it. We're going to have to suffer at points, we'll have to defend, but we've looked at how we can maybe get ourselves a foothold in the game and get forward.

“We had an analyst in working for us, he did some stuff in the last round against Buckie and helped us again with this one so we're well prepared. We know Hibs can still unlock you with their quality but it gives us the best opportunity. We played Rob Roy on Monday, we hand picked that game because their surface is the same width as Easter Road. So we were quite calculated with that.”

Hibs boss David Gray is himself a former Manchester United player. And Moffat - who had spells with his hometown Queen of the South, East Stirling, Albion Rovers and Annan in the SPFL before turning to the juniors - said: "You always like to pits your wits against guys like David Gray.

“I've said that to players about myself as well. It’s not just about them going up against a better quality it's the same for me and the staff - we're putting our wits against much better quality and guys that have got better resources and facilities and everything than us so it's exciting and it's a big challenge for us.

“I’m looking forward to it, similar to a couple of years ago we played Clyde and you're going up against guys like Danny Lennon it's exciting and you want to see if you can do anything against them so I'm looking forward to that aspect as well."

Clydebank have already beaten St Andrews, Girvan, Keith and Buckie to get to this stage. But having clocked up two bookings in those four games 6ft 6n defender Matt Niven is suspended for Easter Road.

And Moffat said: “Matt’s gutted, he’s been like a wee lost soul this week. It's a poor rule in my opinion. We’ve already played four games in the tournament and a centre half gets two bookings and he misses the game of his life.

“There’s an amnesty after this round but surely it should come in before the fourth round when the Premiership teams come in.”

Bankies will be roared on by a massive travelling support topping 2300 in Leith. And their proud as punch manager added: “It's brilliant. It’s a big thing for the club and the community. It’s a wee bit of reward for a lot of hard work that's got us to this point so I'm just delighted for everybody involved with the club.

“The message to the players is to go and enjoy it and do themselves justice. We’ve got good players. I just want them to go and show that.”