St Johnstone head for Paisley

Feb 9 2010 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

THE Perth Saints have to put their double cup disappointments behind them for a vital SPL clash with St Mirren in Paisley tomorrow night, writes Gordon Bannerman.

Their trophy dreams dissolved with back-to-back defeats from Rangers and Dundee United, without the opposition net being stirred.

But now it’s back to SPL business against a Paisley outfit which has enjoyed more favourable cup results, with a Co-operative Insurance Cup final place secured against Rangers and a Scottish Cup replay teed-up against the Ibrox club after a scoreless weekend draw.

But injury-plagued Kevin Moon (hamstring) and Graham Gartland (banned) will miss the clash.

Yesterday, Saints manager Derek McInnes supervised a 1-0 closed doors win over Morton that gave several first team squad men a run out, including recent recruit Mark Connolly, Paul Sheerin and Gavin Swankie. Stevie May scored the goal.

Long-term absentees, top scorer Collin Samuel, and skipper Kevin Rutkiewicz, were among those eager to play their way back into contention for the trip west.

McInnes indicated: “Everyone came through it. Sammy got an hour without any problems and he could be in our thoughts. Dinky played, as planned, for 45 minutes and it’s great to have him back. But he has had less training than Sammy so we won’t throw him back in at Paisley. There’s no point taking any unnecessary risks.”

Reflecting on the cup exits, McDiarmid assistant Tony Docherty admitted it was hurting.

But he said: “It was a sore one on Saturday and we’d have loved another cup run but the league is our bread and butter.

“Anybody who saw our penalty claim against United would say it was a stonewaller. That’s what the boys on Sportscene reckoned as well. But we didn’t get that decision and that can be crucial in cup ties.

“We weren’t at our sharpest and our reports on Rangers indicate they were similar at St Mirren.

“Maybe the midweek game took it out of both teams.

“But we know this will be tough.

“I watched St Mirren beat Hearts to reach the Co-op final and they fully deserved their win.

“But we are back to league business. We have to get back to winning ways and kick on again.”

Docherty said the arrival of Michael Duberry, Mark Connolly and Cillian Sheridan had added strength to the Perth squad, with casualties also working their way back into first team contention.

“That should make us stronger for the crucial period which lies ahead of us,” he said.