Bristol City's record of achievement in knockout competitions in recent seasons may be modest, but they have a man within their ranks who might just prove a lucky talisman.

As far as individual cup records go, Scotland international midfielder Paul Hartley boasts an impressive curriculum vitae, having appeared in three finals north of the border and emerged with a winner's medal on each occasion.

Indeed, Hartley played a starring role in Hearts' march to the Scottish FA cup final in 2006, scoring the first hat-trick of his career to seal victory in a memorable Edinburgh derby semi-final against arch rivals Hibernian.

Although sent off in the final against underdogs Gretna at Hampden Park a month later, he still emerged smelling of roses as Hearts won on penalties. Hartley's move to Celtic the following season brought further success in the form of another FA cup final triumph, this time at the expense of Dunfermline Athletic, and he was back at Hampden 10 months later, helping to defeat bitter rivals Rangers 2-0 in the final of the Scottish League Cup.

Not surprisingly, the 33-year-old Scot is something of an oddity at Ashton Gate. With the notable exception of midfield powerhouse Marvin Elliott, who played for Millwall in a losing cause against Manchester United in the 2004 final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, the vast majority of City's players have yet to taste the proverbial magic of the FA Cup.

Yet that could all change if they overcome Severnside rivals Cardiff at the second time of asking in tonight's third-round replay in the Welsh capital.

Should they prevail and confirm a home fourth-round tie against fellow Championship side Leicester on Friday, City will be presented with the alluring prospect of appearing in the fifth round for the first time since February 2001.

Only City fans of a certain age will recall victories over Chesterfield, Kettering, Huddersfield and Kingstonian and the subsequent 3-0 defeat at Leicester in the last 16.

Certainly, Hartley is hoping his successes north of the border rub off on his new colleagues and inspire a long-overdue upturn in fortunes for City in the world's most famous club knockout competition.

He said: "My record in the cups back home is pretty good. I played in three finals and was lucky enough to be on the winning side every time.

"Let's hope that's an omen for when we play Cardiff again at their place."

Some may contend that City's best chance of progress passed them by when they could only draw 1-1 at snow-swept Ashton Gate last week. But Hartley disagrees and is positively bullish in talking up his team's prospects.

Referring to Saturday's 4-2 Championship triumph over Preston North End, the Scot argued: "We'll be going to Cardiff with our tails up, believing we can finish the job.

"It will be a hard game for us in Wales, but I don't agree that Cardiff are favourites just because they are at home.

"They may be above us in the league, but they have not won for a while and they have a few problems with injuries and behind the scenes.

"I think it will be another really open game with both sides going for it and we'll fancy our chances after playing the way we did against Preston."

Hartley proved the architect-in-chief of City's first win in six games, weighing-in with three set-piece assists and dictating terms alongside Cole Skuse in the centre of midfield.

Rather than sit back and defend a 2-1 lead in the second half, the Robins went on the offensive and ended up scoring four goals in a game for the first time since September 2008, an achievement which Hartley insisted will help banish the fear factor which has caused City to concede so many late goals this season.

He acknowledged: "When you let in as many late goals as we have, you know you have a problem and it's cost us quite a few points. We conceded another one in the 90th minute, but we were already 4-1 up by then, so it didn't matter so much.

"It was really pleasing to create so many chances and to score four goals and that will give the lads a lot of confidence. At 2-1 in front, we spoke of trying to relax and keep hold of the ball and I thought we did that really well.

"There was no question of hanging onto a one-goal lead in the final minutes and, hopefully, we've turned an important psychological corner in that respect."