THE location is Motherwell and it’s raining. Quelle surprise.

Fir Park is a hive of activity in the stands below as staff scuttle about preparing for their first cup final in six years, cameramen and photographers clunk and click their way through the Fir Park press room door at the bottom left corner of the Phil O’Donnell Stand ready for the 'Well's media day.

At the other side of the imposing structure, Cedric Kipre emerges as a 6ft 5in vision of gallus serenity, the clatter of the downpour on the stand’s high roof making the arrival of this imposing Parisian centre-half rather inconspicuous. Not a trait you’d often associate with the domineering figure who has been at the heart of the Motherwell defence since this summer.

“I’m liking it here, apart from the weather obviously. The people here are very nice,” Kipre tells me as we find a row up in the stand large enough to accommodate his long frame before our chat continues to how he is settling in to life in Ecosse. “The thing I do the most in Scotland is playing Fifa on the PS4, I love it. Sometimes me and the boys will go out, too.

“When I’m playing Fifa I now play as Motherwell. I started a career mode with Motherwell actually. We’re doing good, you know? Top of the league, Celtic are behind us. Before I always played Fifa and I always wanted myself on the game. The first time I saw myself I was impressed, I was proud of myself! We will try our best to beat Celtic on Sunday now.

“It would mean a lot to the club. Going back to 1991 is a long, long time. On Sunday we have the chance to win something so we will do everything possible. It’s a final so we will play to win.

“It’s going to be a game of football, you know? They are players like us. We can win, they can win. it’s football, anything can happen.”

The laissez-faire mantra of the 20-year-old Frenchman has served him well. Given the task which faces him and his Motherwell team-mates on Sunday as a Celtic team who haven’t lost in a year and a half come into view, it’s clear this is an opportunity to make history that excites but doesn’t daunt.

While the Betfred Cup final is a red letter day for a player whose previous employers included Paris Saint-Germain and Leicester City during their Premier League winning period, Kipre’s time start at Motherwell grew from a humble beginning – a trialist away to Stirling Albion in the summer. “I knew I needed a good game to impress the manager and the staff. Obviously it was still pre-season so I wasn’t 100%. I think I did alright that game and then I signed,” he explains.

“Martin Foyle [Motherwell’s chief scout] contacted me. I played a trialist game in Manchester and he said he saw me there, and that he would like me to come pre-season with Motherwell. I’ve had other opportunities abroad, but my brother and my agent told me to come here first and have a look. I enjoyed it so I stayed.”

The Kipre name may not be up there with the likes of Neville, De Boer or Pettigrew, but there is a pedigree in this footballing family Oor Willie would have been proud of.

“Football has been in my family. My father played, not at a good level, but his love for football dripped down on to us. That’s why we are the way we are,” explains Kipre, who went through the PSG youth academy following in the footsteps of his elder brother Jean-Martial. “I think my big brother Jean-Martial I’d say played at a higher level than me. He played in the MLS with Salt Lake City, the second division in France, too. He was In the USA for two years but it was a bad choice from him. He had lots of opportunities in France but I think he went there for the money. Since he came back he’s been playing the lower leagues in France.

“When I first got to PSG I was very happy because I always supported them, and it was a dream of mine to one day play for the first team. But I never had the chance. I learned a lot there. It was a good time for me. When I left I was 15, but I don’t regret anything.”

For all Kipre’s time at big clubs, tomorrow’s final Hampden date will present a landmark opportunity for him and the family who have travelled over to watch him in action. Even though he was part of the Leicester set up when the Foxes one the league two seasons ago, scenes of revelry in Jamie Vardy’s kitchen the night the title was clinched were far removed for the burgeoning centre-half who has become a cult hero at Motherwell.

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“I was at home watching the game as well,” he said of that Leicester title party. “I was happy for them because I was part of the club as well. It was a very good time.

“When you are not really in the first-team squad you are not 100 per cent part of it. As a reserve you are the second team.

“I think it will be, I think it will be crazy if we win. Everyone will be very happy. I’m aware of what it would mean historically to this club. That’s we will try our best, we’ll try to make everyone proud.”