Shaughnessy keen to shrug off defeat and get back to winning ways
JOE SHAUGHNESSY has urged his St Mirren team- mates to shrug off the four- goal defeat to Celtic during the week, and put all of their focus on going on an extended run in the Scottish Cup.
The Saints captain says that the heavy defeat at Celtic Park will not dent confidence within their ranks, and that there is a real hunger within the squad to have an impact on one of the competitions they can feasibly win, starting with a victory over Dundee on Saturday.
“I’m very confident we can get back to being hard to beat and winning games,” Shaughnessy said.
“We knew it was going to be tough against Celtic and losing four goals is disappointing, but we’ve got to put that to bed now.
“We’ve got to focus on Saturday, try to get into the next round of the Scottish Cup and then get back to winning ways in the league after that.
“It’s a massive game for us. We know we’re never going to win the league, but the cup competitions are ones we can go far in and challenge for. It all starts against a good Dundee team so we’ll make sure we’re right at it.
“We have to look at the cup and have a right go at it. We’ll prepare right and make sure we give them all the respect and not take them too lightly.
“We know we’ve got it in us to beat anyone. We’re a good side, we’re welldrilled and we have confidence playing anyone.”
Shaughnessy has only recently come back into the St Mirren side after a spell out of favour, but he says that leaving the club in order to find more regular game- time was never on his mind.
“It’s not been something I’ve considered,” he said,
“I’ve been in football long enough to know you shouldn’t ever think you’re guaranteed to play anywhere. Even as captain, if you’re not in the team you need to get your head down, train hard and be a good example for the young lads coming through.
“You don’t chuck your toys out the pram and say you’re wanting to leave if you’re not playing. You work hard to get back in the team and when you do you have to take your chance.
“That’s what’s been on my mind the last two months.
“We’ve got a really good squad here. We’ve probably got 16 players who are first eleven players, so whoever plays the rest have to just get behind them.
“That’s what it’s been like for me for the last five months. You just have to get behind the lads and they’ve been doing really well.
“I can’t say anything, I can’t go and say I should be playing, I’ve just made sure I’ve been training away and ready to be called upon and that’s been the case in the last few weeks.
“I’m happy to be back playing for sure.”
As well as the cup ambitions harboured by Shaughnessy and his teammates, there is a huge desire to see through a promising start to their league campaign by securing a top- six finish in the second part of the season.
The defeat to Celtic saw the Buddies slip into the bottom half of the Premiership table, but Shaughnessy says they are better equipped to meet that goal than ever.
“We’ve had a couple of disappointments over the last few years, getting so close,” he said.
“I’d say this squad is stronger than we’ve had over the last two years, so hopefully when it gets back to the league games we can pick up some points and results again and really push into the top six.”
We’re a good side, we’re welldrilled and we have confidence playing anyone