OLIVER Bozanic brings many attributes to Hearts and not least of them is inside knowledge of two of the more notable members of today’s opposition. A sharer of midfield duties with Tom Rogic both on international duty and back in Rogic’s pre-Celtic days at Central Coast Mariners, Bozanic was also a young player at Reading when Brendan Rodgers was cutting his teeth there after a stint as youth coach at Chelsea.

While the influential Austrian Peter Haring appears set to give the Tynecastle club a boost by declaring his availability for today’s first Betfred Cup semi-final, Bozanic will be an enviable spy in the camp as Hearts attempt to derail Celtic’s treble treble hopes and book their first major final spot since going down to St Mirren in the final of this competition in 2013.

“I knew Tom at Central Coast and he was a massive talent even back then,” Bozanic said. “He had a very good stint with us, there was obviously interest from big clubs and I think it was inevitable that he was going to move back on. The only time I have ever played against him was during the 1-0 win earlier in the season. But he has done very well here in Scotland and for Celtic and it is going to be very good to play against another Aussie again. I don't think there will be too much in the way of sledging!

“He can move the ball very quickly and is a good finisher as well, so he is a threat. But all the way along this season we have shown that we have good players and we can stand up on the big occasions. This is definitely a big occasion and hopefully one that we can stand up on and play well.

“I trained under Brendan too, I was only a young player back then but I really enjoyed my time at Reading. He was a very technical coach and I picked up a lot of good things from him. He has had a fantastic coaching career and you could definitely see that along the way. We chatted briefly after the game earlier in the season. We just said hello, normal things. I don’t know if Brendan remembered me or not, but he definitely said hello.”

Bozanic, who has followed in the footsteps of his father Vic by appearing for the Australian national team, graced the Socceroos squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, and has appeared in two A-League Grand finals. A veteran too of Swiss and Japanese football, he is unlikely to be fazed by anything that transpires at Murrayfield today, however special the atmosphere – with it heading for a 67,000 sell-out – promises to be. It appears sure to be the biggest crowd at a domestic Scottish football match for 30 years.

“I’ve played in front of some big crowds and in some big games but it is very special to play in semi-finals of cups,” he said. “This is a massive opportunity for clubs, players and fans to go all the way and something we are really looking forward to."