Saints star’s cup date

Mar 11 2011 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

MURRAY Davidson admits he’d be in dreamland if he gets a call from Craig Levein next week to confirm he’s made the Scotland squad for a glamour clash with Brazil in London.

But this weekend, the St Johnstone midfield dynamo is more concerned with fulfilling his Scottish Cup ambitions – and that means ensuring the Perth side advance to the semi-finals at the expense of Brechin City’s part-timers.

Scotland boss Levein will be among the sell-out crowd at Glebe Park tomorrow to take another look at the highly-regarded 22-year-old, who was snapped-up from crisis-hit Livingston along with Dave Mackay in an astute piece of business by Perth manager Derek McInnes.

Scotland face a star-studded Brazilian side at The Emirates on March 27 and earlier this week Levein admitted Davidson was on his radar.

The midfielder said: “I’ve heard I’m being linked with the squad for the Brazil game but that is out of my control and I just have to concentrate on playing well for St Johnstone.

“When you’re growing up you watch Brazil and the way they play the game. But we have the cup game to think about before the squad is named. I am concentrating on playing well for St Johnstone and keeping my performances up to a level I’m happy with.”

Davidson has already featured in a national squad, but hopes of becoming the first Saint in 80 years to play for Scotland were dashed when he remained on the bench.

But he stressed: “A lot of people looked on it as a negative when I didn’t get off the bench. I was disappointed on the night but just to be training with boys like Darren Fletcher and Craig Gordon was a massive boost.

“Just being listed has pushed me on. I did take confidence from being in the squad for the Faroes game. I remember getting a big boost when I got my first U21 cap. So if I get my first full cap that would be another massive boost for me.”

But it’s Brechin rather than Brazil, and Glebe Park, where the 67-yard wide pitch is lined by a hedge, rather than the cavernous Emirates Stadium which command his attention tomorrow.

Davidson said: “It’s a massive game for both clubs. The prize is a semi-final at Hampden. It was our aim to try and have a cup run at the start of the season. If we prepare right, we can get through what will be a very difficult game.

“There are eight clubs left in the competition and we are all chasing a semi-final place.

“I’ve played at Glebe Park in a few reserve and youth team games but I’ve never played there in a competitive match. This will be a first.

“It’s tight but it’s the same for both teams. A lot of the boys have played there and know what to expect. I’m not sure what the park is like but it can’t be much worse than what we have at McDiarmid. We know what to expect.

“We aren’t a club to set targets at the start of the season but personally I want to get to a cup final. We reached a League Cup semi-final last year against Rangers and we felt we let ourselves down.

“A lot was made of an early chance I had. It was a good one at 0-0 and they went on to win comfortably 2-0. You do feel you’ve let people down. You think if that had gone in you could be in a final.

“But that’s in the past and we have to look to the future. Whoever we were facing in the quarter-final we’d want to make the most of the chance to reach a semi-final. You don’t get many of these chances during your career.

“There’s no danger of us taking it lightly. It’s a quarter-final and a massive game for us. We are training thoroughly and preparing 100 per cent.”

TOMORROW’S cup tie is on course for a 3,400 sell-out. Brechin have sold their allocation and Saints have around 100 left for general sale today at McDiarmid. They received 2300 briefs and the tie has caught the imagination of fans making a day of it in the Angus town. A stream of buses will be heading for Glebe Park.

FORMER Saints stars including Allan Preston, Roddy Grant, Alan Kernaghan, Paul Kane and Nick Dasovic will be taking in the game tomorrow.