WHO better to ask whether Motherwell can indeed upset all the odds and win the Scottish Cup final than the Celtic player who has been at Fir Park for the last few months?

Nadir Ciftci, and this will surprise some, remains a Celtic player despite having not kicked a ball for the two years since Brendan Rodgers was manager.

His career has not gone the way it was supposed to, however, his latest loan move, just along the M72, has been an enjoyable one.

Ciftci, a likeable big guy, scored two goals in an easy win against Hamilton,and would have left the season with a hat-trick had a sensational long-range effort not hit the crossbar late on in the match.

He is going to be at Hampden on Saturday and says will have mixed emotions given which two teams are involved, which isn’t probably 100 per cent true as his time at Celtic wasn't great and the striker has rediscovered his mojo in Lanarkshire.

Aside from Hibernian, it is Motherwell that have given Celtic more trouble than any other team this season and Ciftci believes, and he’s not alone, that Saturday’s final at Hampden Park is going to be far from a one-sided affair.

“Motherwell have been brilliant as a team - compact and strong,” said the Turk. “That is their best chance against Celtic, to win second balls and hit them on the counter-attack.

“They have been good at getting in the faces of the opposition and they will press high again. The boys are so fit that ever metre counts for them and they will give everything.

“There are so many potential heroes. I scored twice on Saturday but my team-mates allowed me to do that. Curtis Main has been on a good run and Ryan Bowman has done well after his injury, so I don’t care who scores.

“It will be mixed feelings for me. Who will I support? Oh, I don’t know… I’m sure the best team will win! I will be there cheering in the stand with a half-and-half suit!

“Obviously I know Celtic very well and, if any team in this league can give them a hard game, I honestly believe it is Motherwell. We have already seen the teams draw 0-0 this season.

“The way Motherwell play – getting in your face and being really aggressive – can cause any team problems. I think Motherwell were also maybe a little bit unlucky in the League Cup final against Celtic.

“They just need to believe in themselves and they can definitely do it.”

Ciftci, who obviously can’t play against his parent cub, is a good player but was never qujite good enough to be a talisman for Celtic, which was he was supposed to be when signed by Ronnie Deila.

However, it would be nice if he stayed in Scotland, where he has had his best times, and a deal at Motherwell remains a possibility.

Player and club do seem a nice fit.

“I am so thankful to the boys, the staff and the fans – everyone at the club has made me so welcome since day one,” said Ciftci. “It’s a dream come true to finish things like this.

“I maybe didn’t have too much confidence when I arrived because of some ups and downs. But they have given me so much and helped me get my confidence back.

"I had a little injury that kept me out for a few weeks. But they stood by me and really kept believing in me. I am so grateful.”

Everything Ciftci said is true.

Motherwell have it in them to rough up Celtic, close them down and pull off one of the great shocks of Scottish football.

If only their second final of the season was going to be as simple as their final league fixture.

The less said about Hamilton on Saturday the better. Accies were awful and Martin Canning was right to say that he has a lot of work to do over the summer.

They have again survived, and well done on them for that, but this is a team which must be seen to be moving forward.

“It’s not good to go on holiday after a performance like that,” said right-back Kenny can der Veg, one of the many players out of contract. “The way we played was terrible, we didn’t win the battles and we need to show much better than that.

“You play every game to win, especially a derby match, and it’s disappointing. I don’t know what happened but it wasn’t good enough.

“We need to move forward as a club - we have good players but we lost too easy against Motherwell.”

For the small band of Accies fans, merely staying up isn’t enough.