Booth takes heart from defeat in cup defence
CALLUM BOOTH believes St Johnstone can look forward with confidence after their gutsy display against Celtic at Hampden on Saturday.
The Perth club’s defence of the Premier Sports Cup came to an end when they were beaten 1-0 by their Glasgow rivals in the semi-final.
However, the double winners’ manager, Callum Davidson, was proud of his team’s performance without Cammy MacPherson, Stevie May and Glenn Middleton. And left-back Booth is adamant the McDiarmid Park outfit, who take on Hibernian at home in the cinch Premiership this weekend, can take heart from the showing against their Parkhead rivals.
“The gaffer said to us we have defended our cup as well as we can,” he said. “To get to Hampden five times in the space of a year is a great achievement in itself.
“We did well in spells, but we couldn’t quite get the goal we would need. The game plan had been working and we were right in the game until late on.
“The gaffer set us up brilliantly as he always does for the big games. We were frustrating them up until a certain point and they weren’t creating many chances.
“But it bodes well for us that we did well with so many players out. We have a good squad and we have more numbers than last year.
“We were playing against topclass international players and we held our own and ran them close. But it wasn’t to be.
“We just have to keep going in the same direction and keep believing in what the gaffer is setting us up to do.
“We have to pick ourselves up quickly as games are coming thick and fast. We have a lot of games before the winter break, but we have done that numerous times in the past and we will do it again. We have a big game against Hibs next week, but it will be easy to get up for that.”