St Johnstone promise cup glory

Feb 5 2010 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

DEREK McInnes yesterday pledged he’ll do everything in his power to deliver cup glory to St Johnstone and their fans.

The Perth manager shared the disappointment of supporters who endured another semi-final defeat in midweek.

But McInnes watched the 90-minutes footage into the wee small hours and stood by his initial judgement.

“At times we looked a right good side and that’s what I believe we are. But we lost two cheap goals and that was disappointing. Walter Smith felt we were the better side in the first-half but goals change everything and Rangers ultimately deserved to go through. We had some really good performances but needed more over 90 minutes.

“Despite previous semi-final experiences I believed we could beat Rangers. I am well aware expectations have been raised among the fans because of our track record in recent seasons and I share those expectations for what this team could achieve.

“Make no mistake, we won’t rest in trying to deliver success for the supporters. They gave us great backing again in Glasgow. We have to take it one stage further. Hopefully we can reach a final and ensure we are just 90 minutes away from winning a trophy. “There’s no point being in the game if you don’t want to win trophies.

“We want back to a semi-final as quickly as possible and obviously that demands beating Dundee United this weekend.”

McInnes pointed out his players had taken the scalps of Hibs and United en route to Hampden, and deserved enormous credit for their exploits. Now the challenge is to emulate the Co-operative Insurance Cup win over their Tayside rivals in the Active Nation Scottish Cup in Perth tomorrow. The match kicks-off at 3pm.

It’s their fourth match-up and the teams shared six goals in a thriller last week in Dundee.

McInnes is anticipating another close contest, observing: “We have had three tight games already. We are probably expected to win this game now. That shows how far we have come.

The players are disappointed after losing out to Rangers but we can’t afford a hangover.

There is a huge incentive for them and we have to start on the front foot. United are a good side with a physical presence but we are determined to progress.”

New loan signing Mark Connolly is listed in the squad, with Stuart McCaffrey yesterday undergoing hernia surgery which could rule him out for six weeks. Kenny Deuchar hurt his back in a late clash with the United keeper at Tannadice and the after-effects ruled him out of the midweek cup tie.

But the centre, who netted the winner against Hearts, should figure in the derby and former United striker Collin Samuel could make his comeback to the squad after knee surgery. He has been training this week after suffering from the bug sweeping McDiarmid recently. Kevin Moon’s hamstring is receiving attention.

Former Tannadice full-back Danny Grainger insists Saints will be in the right frame of mind for their latest cup challenge.

He said: “Win, lose or draw, we have so many games just now there is no time to dwell on any of them. Now we have another cup tie and it would be great to get back to Hampden quickly.

“The midweek defeat was our own doing and I can only apologise for the let down. We shot ourselves in the foot. At times we fell short of the standards we have set for ourselves. But we will be up for the United game, no question.”

ST Johnstone and Dundee United meet for the fourth time and in the third different competition at McDiarmid Park. Betrescue.com note the last three fixtures involving the pair have already produced 14 goals, a statistic which suggests that Partybets' 10/11 odds for tomorrow's cup tie to yield more than two has the look of a nap about it.

United boast a fine away league record, having lost just once on the road, hence Betfred install them as their 11/8 favourites. By contrast, St Johnstone are an attractive- looking 2/1 with online firm Jaxx.com to settle this delicately-poised tie first time around; William Hill offer the draw at 12/5.