Rae and McNaughton, who were both named in Burley's most recent international squad, are expected to be included in Cardiff's starting line-up, while Thomson is likely to make an appearance from the bench.

According to the former Aberdeen full-back, the chance to shine at Wembley promises to be a unique moment in the careers of all three Scots.

"It's a great opportunity for us to do the business on the biggest stage and show what we're capable of," said McNaughton, the defender who left Pittodrie to join Cardiff two years past and has gone on to establish himself as a fixture in manager David Jones' plans. "There's a chance for us to go and knock on the door of the Scotland team."

It will be McNaughton's first appearance in a cup final – he watched from the main stand at Hampden in 2000 when Aberdeen lost to Rangers – and expects to relish the big day at Wembley. He says Cardiff have more in common with West Bromwich Albion than most of the sides in the Championship who fill their team with giants. In other words, Cardiff can play if they're given an opportunity – one they took at Middlesbrough, for example, when they defeated the Premiership side 2-0.

According to Rae, the midfield player who has racked up more appearances in a season with Cardiff than he did during three years at Ibrox, it's a "huge bonus" to be involved in an occasion as prestigious as an FA Cup final after Cardiff missed out on a spot in the play-offs by six points. "I moved from Scotland to Cardiff to get more football, and, on that front, things could not have gone better for me," he said yesterday.

Rae was on the wanted list at Hearts and Norwich last summer but chose Cardiff largely due to the persuasive powers of club chairman, Peter Ridsdale.

A substitute in the recent draw with Croatia, the former Dundee and Rangers man hopes he's got "a foot in the door" with Scotland after a year of sterling displays in the Championship. Free of knocks and relishing playing regular football again, Rae lost his place at international level when he was sidelined by injury at Ibrox. "Good players came into the side in my position while I was out and I'm just pleased to be in the Scotland squad again," he reflected.

Rae's only previous cup final experience came at Hampden with Dundee five years ago when the Dens Park side lost to Rangers. "I was gutted about losing, but I really enjoyed the experience," he recalled. "On a hot day, I thought we played well. As a player, you want to be involved in finals."

Unusually for someone who spent three years at Ibrox, Rae left Rangers without a medal in any competition. It's an anomaly that one of the hardest working men in football wants to put right against Portsmouth.

A former Dundee United and Rangers forward who moved to Cardiff for a fee of £200,000 in 2006, Thompson missed the first three months of the season after injuring himself during a boating accident while on holiday in America. During his absence, winger Paul Parry moved inside to form an effective strike partnership with veteran striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. "It's been a stop-start kind of season," the Scot acknowledged.

Reports of a rift between Thompson and Jones appear exaggerated – the manager denied the pair had made up because he insisted they hadn't fallen out in the first place – though the Scot, who has a year left on his contract, couldn't answer a question about whether or not he was on the transfer list.

A talented guitarist and singer, Thompson wrote his own cup final song, Do The Ayatollah, which is currently featured on a YouTube video and is far better than you'd imagine. Think Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera singing a football song.

Thompson wasn't aware until this week that when Cardiff won the FA Cup in 1927, their only previous appearance in English football's showpiece, it was a Scot, Hughie Ferguson, who scored the winner against Arsenal. Needless to say, he wouldn't mind celebrating in song if history repeats itself tomorrow.

• The Cardiff City players were speaking on behalf of National Express, official supporter of the FA Cup. For more details visit www.nationalexpress.com