Published: Thursday, 16th April, 2009 12:30pm

Loan Ranger Loy faces cup final heartache no matter what happens

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LOAN Ranger Rory Loy is stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to the Scottish Cup as wins for both his teams will probably mean he"s stuck on the Hampden sidelines.

Not surprisingly, the talented youngster would be desperate to play but if Pars and Rangers both triumph in their semi finals, he"ll face the dreaded "Jim O"Brien scenario" that arose in 2007.

Loy (21) said, 'I don"t think I"d be able to play but I"m not 100 per cent on that.

'I suppose, at the end of the day, if we play Rangers why would they want to do anything to stop them winning the cup?

'I"m not saying I"m going to score or anything but why would they take that chance?'

Just two years ago O"Brien was on loan with the Pars when they reached the Scottish Cup final against his "parent" club, Celtic.

Unfortunately for the player, the "will he, won"t he play" dragged on for weeks before Celtic put their foot down and banished him to a watching brief at Hampden.

Asked what the best scenario would be in the semi finals, Loy showed the kind of quick thinking that persuaded Rangers to offer him a new two year deal.

'A St Mirren win and a Dunfermline win,' he stated. 'No, that"s a hard one for me.

'Individually I would want to play in a final, obviously, but I"m not saying I would want Rangers to get beat.

'We"ll just have to see what happens.

'I"m a Rangers fan so Rangers or Dunfermline for the cup.'

The Scotland Under-21 striker has enjoyed his loan spell at the Pars to the extent that if he is forced to sit the final out, he wouldn"t be able to choose who to support.

'If Rangers and Dunfermline get to the final and I"m not playing I will be a neutral fan as I"ve been here a little while now and I"m quite fond of the club,' Loy explained.

'I wouldn"t mind either way if that was the final and I wasn"t involved.

'But obviously if I was involved, I"d side with Dunfermline and try my hardest for them.'

Loy is hoping to impress against Ross County on Saturday to force his way back into Jim McIntyre"s plans after a recent spell on the sidelines.

'It"s been good here, I"ve not been playing recently which is disappointing but hopefully I"ll get a chance to impress before the semi final,' he said.

'I"ve played Falkirk at every level apart from first team and they"re always the same.

'They pass the ball well, keep it and tire the opposition out, so it"ll be tough on a big pitch like Hampden although we"re capable of passing the ball around too.

'I hear Dunfermline and Falkirk are big rivals so it should all add to the atmosphere and hopefully we"ll win.

'If we perform like I know we can I don"t think we"ll have many problems.'

The striker is equally confident that Pars won"t be relegated despite a poor run of form leaving them five points above Airdrie United, who are in the play-off spot.

'We know we"ve got the players here and we"re in a false position in the league,' Loy explained. 'We should be a lot higher than we are but that"s the way it is.

'We have to accept that and do as much as we can to get as many points as possible – but I can"t see us going down.

'If we get the fans behind us a wee bit more, we can deliver enough points before the end of the season.'