Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes dreaming of winning League Cup at Hampden

Derek McInnes insists his team are aiming for cup glory as they prepare to host Hearts.

A place at Hampden is on the line for the eight League Cup quarterfinalists and the Kilmarnock boss says they will all believe the can lift the trophy.

The Rugby Park side, who reached the semi-finals last season, knocked out holders Celtic in the last-16 not long after defeating Rangers in their first Premiership game of the season.

They will now take-on Steven Naismith’s side in Ayrshire on Tuesday night knowing a victory will put them another two wins away from silverware.

As he prepared his team for the game, McInnes said: “I’ve always enjoyed the cups and I’ve always taken pride in trying to progress as far as possible.

“We are trying to do that at Kilmarnock, last year we were almost reached two semi-finals for the first-time in the history of the club.

“We weren’t good enough on the night against Inverness (in the Scottish Cup quarter-final) but we gave ourselves a chance.

“We will always place demands throughout the league campaign, but we must be a good cup team.

“We beat some good teams to reach Hampden last season but Celtic were waiting for us.

“We’ve already knocked them out and we are now only ninety minutes away from another visit.

“We are delighted to be at home as we are strong but we’ve got to overcome an opponent, who will view it as the same opportunity.

“All eight teams will believe they can win the cup. We’ve got to see the bigger picture and visualise that we can win it. Some teams have more difficult ties than others but all Premiership teams will dream of lifting the trophy.

“If you want to win a domestic cup in Scotland then you have to beat more than one good team and we’ll need to do that against Hearts. It’s important that we sniff that opportunity and while we’re at Kilmarnock, let’s try to do something that we are remembered for.

“I want my players and club to expect to reach Hampden regularly. It shouldn’t be a surprise that we are here and my players need to deal with being in the quarter-final.”